Project Mile Two
by Lord Raa
Summary: Ranma's lineage brings new challenges.
1. Prologue

Project Mile Two  
  
By Lord Raa  
Prologue  
A women in a traditional kimono walked into the office.  
  
"Excuse me I have an appointment to see Kiyoharu Gowa, I'm Mrs Saotome."  
  
"Ah, yes, Mrs Saotome. If you would like to go right in, he is expecting you."  
  
"Thank you, miss."  
  
Upon entering her seat, Nodoka spoke to the man in the executive chair. "What have you found out about my son?"  
  
"Well, there's good news and bad. We've managed to track him and his father down. They're in Nerima, he's going to school and managing to keep up. Bad news is he seems to be engaged to at least three different girls."  
  
"Three? Could you please explain that?"  
  
"According to our sources: two arranged marriages and one set of tribal laws." Kiyoharu was impressed at the age of 16, Ranma had three girls wanting to marry him.  
  
"Why would Ranma have two arranged marriages? I certainly didn't approve _any_!"  
  
"That would be part of the bad news - you husband. My sources tell me that Ranma is engaged to the youngest Tendo daughter. When they were on their training trip, Ranma was also engaged to his best friend at the time, Ukyo Kuonji. Only he considers the Tendo agreement to take precedence as it is the oldest, despite the fact that Genma ran off with the dowry from the Kuonji engagement."  
  
"And the other one?" Nodoka was beginning to see why her family had not approved of her choice of husband and made her promise not to reveal her family's true status.  
  
"Apparently, she's a chinese national, snd due to her villiage's laws they're married. If an amazon warrior is best in combat by an outsider of the opposite sex, then they are supposed to be given the kiss of marriage, if they are the same sex - then it's the kiss of death. With them being hunted down until they are avenged or die in the attempt."  
  
"Oh, my."  
  
"Now for the next part of the bad news. It seems that Ranma is cursed. And that the chinese girl tried to kill him because he turns into a girl."  
  
"I'm sorry. Kiyoharu, could you say thay again? I thought you said my son turns into a girl."  
  
"He does, we have footage of it happening on file. Kiyotsugu is trying to find out how it works, and if the is a cure."  
  
"Then he's not really a man among men, is he?"  
  
"Well, that depends on you definition of manly," Kiyoharu was not anxious to have his cousin forced to kill himself because of some stupid pledge. (1)  
  
He looked his cousin in the eye, "what do you consider manly, Nodoka?"  
  
"Well, someone who is able to perform husbandly duties as and when required, an honourable man, someone who will help out for those who need it. Someone who will stand up for what he believes in." Nodoka looked off into the distance.  
  
'So why did you marry that fool Genma?' Kiyoharu asked himself. "Well, if you can overlook the curse and the fact he's shy around women, the your son fits the bill."  
  
"Hmm, I will have to meet him, where is he staying?"  
  
"The Tendo dojo in Nerima."  
To be continued.  
  
(1) I checked a page of genalogy terms and the best way I could see to describe the relationship between the Gowa sons and Ranma. If you know the correct term let me know and I will change it.  
Note me do:  
  
Well I thought that it was time someone did a Gasaraki/Ranma crossover. This takes place post Gasaraki series and just before Nodoka shows up in the manga.  
  
Blame the person named Jay, who posted a reviewsaying it should go ahead. The teaser was content from a later chapter.  
  
How will Ranma's lineage affect the Nerima situation?  
  
Well, that would be telling. But if you want to know, then here's some possibilities:  
  
Nabiki is a lot nicer.  
Kodachi feels that she has the best chance.  
The Amazons - something between the Gowas and the Joketsuku?  
Akane and Ukyo - meh who cares? But the reversal jewel would play heavily into it.   
Kasumi - will she say something more than 'oh, my'?  
Tatewaki - maybe not so quick to slur Ranma as the Gowa clan predates the Kunos by a fair bit (at least in this story)  
Soun & Genma - drooling over the wealth that Ranma would have access to.   
Nodoka's concern over Ranma's apparent lack of 'manly urges' and pushes Akane (or other fiancees) to seduce Ranma?  
More manipulation of Ranma, only this time not by people trying to play matchmaker.  
Ranma - clueless as ever as he doesn't really put much stock in lineage. 


	2. It begins

Project Mile Two  
A Ranma / Gasaraki crossover  
  
By Lord Raa  
  
***********************************  
  
Disclaimer: I am an assistant manager in a video shop in Hinckley, England. If you think that I look like Rumiko Takahashi, then perhaps you should get new glasses or seek help for your hallucinations. Gasaraki is owned by Sunrise, but licensed by ADV in the US and UK.   
  
***********************************  
Chapter 1: Visions  
  
***********************************  
Ranma twitched slightly in his sleep. He was having disturbing dreams again, only this time it wasn't about being savaged by cats.  
  
A haunting flute melody was playing with a tapping sound slowly increasing in tempo in the background.  
  
Then came the barrage of images. He saw a stage. A cocoon. An ancient ceremonial costume. Images that had no bearing on his current life as a martial artist.  
  
Then the tapping began to become almost urgent, yet still rhythmic enough to be mesmerising.  
  
His pulse quickened and his breathing became laboured.  
  
He saw images of a strange dance, movements that were jerky at first as if a puppeteer was out of practice but getting smoother as the motions were learned.  
  
Ranma started to twitch more violently as his heart rate skyrocketed, he saw an armoured figure walking towards him from the distance. It was some kind of ceremonial armour, designed for psychological impact rather than practicality. As it approached him he saw that something was wrong.  
  
The figure wasn't man sized.  
  
It scared him at first. He recognised elements of it's appearance it was like some kind of demon, when it came close enough to him he felt calmer for some reason.  
  
Like he should know all about it.   
  
Then came the feelings of anger as felt betrayed by his parents, family and friends for keeping something this important from him. A word entered his mind 'Kugai'.  
His twitching had turned into the moments from the dance he had witnessed earlier in his dream, unfortunately bringing his disturbing vision to the attention of others.  
  
Genma saw this a chance to punish the boy for his toying with the feeling of his 'true fiancée'. He leapt in to attack, but found himself smacked away like a monstrous pest.  
  
The others looked on. Ranma was good, he managed to defend against Ryoga's night time attacks, but this was different - he was in some kind of trance and nothing was going to stop it.  
  
'What's up with that idiot now?' Akane thought, still steamed that he went after Shampoo when she had started to hate him. Then she saw the movements he was going through. "What is he doing, dad?"  
  
"I don't know Akane, I've never seen a kata like that."  
  
"I never taught that one to him." Genma spoke up from the corner he was piled in.  
  
Ranma suddenly jumped up, causing his audience to gasp. He started to pace on the spot before moving backwards and forwards. His arm was outstretched as if he should have been waving something around.  
  
Nabiki had returned with a glass of water to splash Ranma, 'if activating his curse works for the neko-ken, then maybe it'll help here' was her logic.  
  
She threw the water, it hit him, turning him into a girl but he still kept dancing.   
  
Now people were starting to panic.  
  
Kasumi stepped forward speaking in a soft, even tone, "Ranma-kun what is going on? What was that?"  
  
"The dance of the Gasara I think..." she replied slowly coming out of her trance. "What are you all staring at?"  
  
"You were having a bad dream, Ranma-kun. We thought it might have been about cats."  
  
'Crap. I've disturbed everybody. Why's pops in the corner like that?' "Sorry about bothering everybody." Ranma said in a meek voice. 'What the hell is a Kugai? What do those dreams mean?' Ranma started to look perplexed.  
  
Nabiki looked on, something wasn't right here. Sure Ranma was a magnet for weirdness, but there was something else, something big. And she wanted in on the secret.  
  
"Why am I a girl? Did Nabiki take photos of my cursed form again?" Ranma asked when her higher functions came back online.  
  
"No, not this time, Ranma." 'What are you hiding from us?' "Anyway where did you learn that dance?"  
  
"I don't know. It came to me in the dream. I saw some odd things like and image of me in the past. I was in some crazy outfit. I saw this weird thing. It was huge and armoured like some kinda samurai, but I think it was a demon." She shuddered at the memory of being played like a puppet.  
***********************************  
During the night, Ranma had another image filled dream. However, this one was more like a replay of the nightly news then the period docu-drama that plagued him earlier.  
A young man about his age in a military uniform dancing in a desert  
  
A giant robot platoon with the markings of Japan's Self Defence force.  
  
More giant robots, only these were of a different design.  
  
The robots fighting in the streets of a Japanese city.  
  
Ranma woke up suddenly. Noting that the panda was next to him snoring away, he checked the time, "nearly time to get up anyway. Might as well practice." A thought occurred to him, "time for revenge, oyaji." And with that Ranma left to get a bucket of cold water.  
***********************************  
  
To be continued. 


	3. Everybody loves to get mail

Chapter 2  
Nodoka Saotome was sitting opposite her cousin, Kiyoharu Gowa. She had just been given some shocking news - her son, who was supposed to be raised to be a 'man among men' turned into a girl when splashed with cold water. Her husband had picked up a similar curse that turned him into a panda.  
  
"So Kiyotsugu has yet to come up with an explanation for the transformation?"  
  
"Apparently it's magic." Noting his cousins sceptical look, he spoke up "I take it you know of the story of the Kai?"  
  
"Yes, I know the old legends, but you don't expect me to believe them do you?"  
  
Kiyoharu smiled at Nodoka. "Let me show you something."  
  
He lead Nodoka out of his office and into Kiyotsugu's. After Kiyoharu whispered something into his brother's ear, he pointed Nodoka to the TV screen, where they brought up footage of the Kugai in the lab.  
  
The Kugai started to twitch and regenerate.  
  
Kiyotsugu was on the phone immediately to the supervisor at the lab. Kiyoharu saw this and pulled out his mobile, "where's Yushiro? What's his condition? And find out about Misuzu!" He practically barked into the device. "WHAT? Yushiro is Hokkaido? Misuzu is in Okinawa?"  
  
Kiyotsugu finished his conversation with the man at the lab. "Well it seems that the Kugai is reacting to someone. Any idea who?"  
  
"It's not Yushiro or Misuzu." Kiyoharu turned to Nodoka, "what about Ranma?"  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
"It seems that Ranma has some special abilities. He might just be a Kai."  
  
"Like in the legends?"  
  
"Yes, No-chan. I would like to examine him. If he is a Kai, then he could help the TA program," Kiyotsugu enthused.  
  
"I don't know, I mean what does that all entail? I'm not letting you cut my son open." Nodoka was adamant.  
  
"It's hard to explain, No-chan. But it goes something like this...."  
***************************************  
  
Back in Nerima  
"Well, what do you think happened, Kasumi?"  
  
"I don't know, Nabiki. Something must have put Ranma into that trance. But what?"  
  
Akane fumed, "I bet that Shampoo had something to do with it. It wouldn't be the first time she's used stuff to tamper with his mind."  
  
"That's right, Saotome, your son is at risk. Perhaps we should get him married soon?"  
  
"What a good idea, Soun."  
  
"Well, perhaps that might be a bit rash, father." Kasumi intervened.  
  
"I'm not marrying that pervert!" Akane bellowed at the fathers.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea, dad. If something is wrong with Ranma, then Akane could be in danger," Nabiki added.   
  
"Perhaps it would be better to wait a while," Soun's spine suddenly lost it's cohesion.  
  
***************************************  
  
Back at the Gowa office.  
Nodoka sat down roughly in her chair. "So my son has powers beyond the average man?"  
  
The two brothers nodded.  
  
"Well then he is a man among men," Nodoka beamed.  
  
"Riiiggghhht. Anyway, are you going to ask him about joining the TA program?"  
  
"I'm not sure about that , Kiyotsugu. I don't like the idea my son being treated like a science project. If it is what he wants, then I will allow it."  
  
'If he realises that it is the best way for him to get answers to what he is then he'll agree,' Kiyoharu thought with a smirk to himself.  
  
"Well, what is the best way for me to be reunited with my son? Should I go and introduce myself to the Tendos?"  
  
"Knowing Genma, I would wait until they are away from Ranma before letting everyone know you're still alive," Kiyoharu spoke with all honesty. "Genma will try to hide your son's curse to save his hide. I don't know about the Tendos. You could write them a letter asking to meet with your in-laws. That way you could find out if the Tendo girl is really the best choice for you son."  
  
"Is everybody against my husband?"  
  
"Not really, No-chan, but we kept tabs on him since you were our favourite cousin. It wouldn't do for you to lose face due to an unpaid bar tab now would it?" Kiyoharu said in a sweet voice.  
  
"He was that bad?"  
  
"I'm sorry that you have to hear this from me, Nodoka, but it seems that Ranma was sold off for a bowl of rice, a fish and two pickles."  
  
"He was _what_?"  
  
"Genma engaged your son, I'm told that the dowry was only a meal."  
  
Nodoka fumed. "Being so manly that several girls are chasing you is one thing, but this is ridiculous!"  
  
Kiyotsugu brought the valid question: "how is Ranma supposed to honour these agreements?"  
  
"I don't know." Kiyoharu sighed, "I will talk with our lawyers about getting him out of this situation, but I get the feeling that the Saotome clan is in for a lot of trouble."  
***************************************  
  
Nodoka sat thinking in her family's study. 'How am I going to get to meet my son. If I announce my visits, then Genma will disappear with him in advance. I know, I'll write a letter announcing my intention to visit my son's fiancée and meet the in-laws, that way I can see if Ranma is happy marrying a Tendo or if I should push him towards one of the other girls and if Ranma is forced to hide from me, I can slip him a note telling him that I know about Jusenkyo.'   
A few days later Soun was checking the mail.  
  
"Bill. Junk mail. Bill. Junk mail. Ah, a letter addressed to me." Sitting down with a cup of tea, Soun began to read his personal letter.  
  
'Dear Mr Tendo  
  
My Name is Nodoka Saotome, I believe you trained with my husband under the same master. Genma has been training my son Ranma for the last ten years, however I have not been in contact with them for some time now. I was under the impression that they were staying with you. Perhaps you could tell them that I look forward to seeing what kind of man my son has grown into. What his hopes and dreams are, if he has any plans for the future.  
  
It has also come to my attention that he is engaged to your daughter, and while I must admit that I am a little disappointed that he didn't tell me himself that he was going to get married, I am interested to see the girl that has captured my son's heart.  
  
I shall be visiting this Friday (the 7th) at 6pm. I do hope that this is not too big of an inconvenience for you and you family. Please tell my son and husband that I would like them both be there for my visit, but I understand if they are off on a training trip, after all my son was raised to be a 'man among men' and as such he must not allow his physical condition to slip.  
  
Yours  
  
Nodoka Saotome'  
"Hmm, maybe this will be the catalyst to get Ranma to admit his feelings to Akane. I must ask Genma what she means by 'a man among men'. Oh well, I had better tell Kasumi that we are having company on Friday."  
  
A certain panda heard this as he was walking by and started to sweat.  
***************************************  
  
Later after school.  
  
Ranma was walking home alone, in his cursed form after yet another argument with Akane. 'It's not my fault Shampoo keeps trying to get me to date her and that fool Mousse keeps attackin' me, but no she can't see that. She just sees me picking fights with people like her "poor Ryoga". Why can't she see that I have to answer any challenge to the school?' "Stupid tomboy," he muttered.  
  
Slipping of his outdoor shoes he called out "I'm home!" 'For what it's worth.'  
  
"Ranma-kun, our fathers would like to talk to you, it's something important." Kasumi's normally cheerful voice had a hint of worry in it.  
  
"Ok, sure. I can take a bath later."  
  
Walking into the sitting room, Ranma saw Soun was doing a credible fountain impression and his father sweating almost as much as his friend was weeping.  
  
"Ranma, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that your mother is coming to visit on Friday."  
  
"What, my mom's still alive? Pops you've got some explaining to do," Ranma's voice became menacing.  
  
"Ranma-kun, the bad news is bad." Soun was solemn having earlier heard from Genma about the seppuku pledge. "It seems that if your father failed to raise you to be a man among men, then he and you would both commit seppuku."  
  
"WHAT? Did I agree to this?"  
  
"Just before you left, boy. Now quiet down, I got to come up with a plan to save my - err- our hides."  
  
Ranma looked at his father as he realised the fat fool had made a slip. "Bet you regret going to Jusenkyo now. So then pops, it seems that I am going to be giving up my life for the sake of the art after all." Ranma finished with a smirk.  
  
"Ungrateful boy, I'd teach you a lesson if I had time," Genma shot back.  
  
Acknowledging Ranma's almost undetectable gesture, Kasumi opened the sliding door, The two fathers being in deep thought, missed it.  
  
Ranma charged at her father with a flying kick to the head. Caught by surprise, Genma was knocked into the koi pond. The panda rose from the water and started to attack Ranma.  
  
Defending himself quite easily, Ranma decided to work off some of his frustration. And give his legs a good work-out. "My feet, your ass. See the connection? No? Then let me help you!" Ranma taunted his father. His feet started blurring, panda flesh began tenderising. Genma backed off, jumped into the air and attacked Ranma's torso from the sky, figuring he should teach the boy not to rely on a single attack method.  
  
Ranma was ready for this and blocked easily using skills derived from the amaguriken. Leading his father into a spiral as if he planned on using the hiryu shoten ha, Ranma was trying a new technique out on the panda.   
  
Genma, despite being angry enough to chew nails, recognised the pattern he was being lead into tried to back out. 'What's the boy trying now?'  
  
Ranma lashed out with a roundhouse kick instead of an uppercut, sending the panda into the ground. Her attack not working out according to plan as she wanted to boot him out of the Tendo compound.  
  
"Hmm, it needs some work, maybe it's all in the timing." Ranma was nonchalant. Turning to face the eldest Tendo daughter, he became serious. "Kasumi, what do you think we should do about my mother? I don't wanna die, but I don't wanna lie to her either."  
  
"Maybe, you should keep out of sight until we can be sure that she won't kill you. Then we reveal your curse to her, so we're not lying to her." Kasumi hoped that she had found a face saving option.  
  
"Yeah, I can go on a training trip," Ranma sighed, "but I really wanna see her. Maybe we'll come up with something before Friday. I'm going in the bath now."  
***************************************  
On Friday morning a letter arrived for Ranma via courier.  
  
"What's that? It's a bit fancy for challenge letter, Ranma." Nabiki enquired, smelling profit. She had hoped to get a peek at it first but it had a tamper evident seal on it.  
  
"No idea, I'll take a look after breakfast on the way to school."  
  
After inhaling his breakfast and a small argument about Ranma picking on P-chan (or to be more accurate, P-chan biting Ranma) Ranma left for school. A thought occurred to Ranma, 'I'll need some privacy. I'll stop by the clinic.'  
  
"Hi doc, can I borrow a room for a few minutes? I need some privacy."  
  
"Sure, my office is free."  
  
Ranma looked at the letter, "pretty fancy, well here goes."  
  
Opening the letter Ranma began to read.  
  
'Dear Ranma,   
  
I am sorry for not contacting you earlier. I am your mother, Nodoka Saotome. I sure the Tendos told you I will be visiting on Friday.  
  
I don't know if your father told you about the seppuku pledge, how he promised to raise you to be 'man among men' or you would both kill yourselves.   
  
Do not worry, you won't have to kill yourself to please me. I know of your Jusenkyo curses.  
  
I suggest that you should pretend to be a girl, until I let slip that I won't make you commit suicide. I plan to use this and other visits to appraise the suitability of the Tendo fiancée. I didn't approve of any arranged marriage for you son, but if you are happy, then I will give my blessing.   
  
I just hope that the girl isn't a violent maniac, or would do anything to hurt you emotionally.   
  
In case you were wondering about my decision, well let us say that I have learnt that you have some special abilities that the common man doesn't.  
  
Your father however, will be punished when I make my 'decision' about your manliness.   
  
Love,  
  
Mother.'  
  
'She knows,' Ranma slowly smiled. 'She is going to accept me for who I am.'  
  
Rushing out of Tofu's office, Ranma ran to school, feeling that nothing could get him down.  
To be continued.  
  
***********************************  
  
Like it? Love it? Loathe it? Let me know what you think:  
  
(lordraa) (digitalpimp) (.co.uk) 


	4. Here's Ranko

Chapter 3  
  
Warning: this chapter contains a spoiler for the end of Gasaraki.  
  
***********************************  
  
Yushiro was in deep thought.  
  
'I felt something.'   
  
"Yushiro."  
  
'A connection, like the first time with Miharu.'  
  
"Yushiro!"  
  
"What, oh sorry captain. What can I do for you?"  
  
Captain Kaburagi shook her head, "I was calling you for the live fire test of the new recoiless rifle. We're waiting for you."  
  
"Sorry, I just had strange feeling." Grabbing his helmet, Yushiro left for his T.A.  
  
"Booting up, systems coming online now. Standing up." Yushiro checked the arms movement. "The right arm is sluggish with the rifle on it. Do you want me to recalibrate the auto-balancer to compensate for it or is it design to be dicarded in combat?"  
  
"Leave it as it is for now, Yushiro, the Brass want us to use the default settings as much as possible for now."  
  
"Roger."  
  
The T.A. walked out on to the test range.  
  
"Starting tracking test now," Yushiro aimed the 90mm rifle at the first moving target.   
  
A salvo of three shots sped towards the target. One hit the target squarely and another struck a glancing blow to the right side of it, not bad for a first attempt. But something was wrong with Yushiro.   
  
"Focus One your breathing is became irregular, what's wrong?"  
  
"I don't know. I felt dizzy for a moment."  
  
"Bring him in now captain," the colonel ordered. "We don't need Yushiro getting hurt just yet."  
  
The T.A. started to sway. No mean feat when you consider the advanced auto balancing equipment fitted. Yushiro turned to the carrier truck, when he face planted the T.A. roughly into the hard ground, badly jarring his shoulder.  
  
"YUSHIRO!" Rin Ataka shouted, concern for the young Gowa evident.  
  
"Get the medic out there now!" Colonel Hayakawa ordered. "Captain Kaburagi, make sure we recorded Yushiro's data, we need want to know what happened."  
  
"Yes, sir!" came the replies.  
  
'Damn, what is it with these things? Does anybody else have the same problems as Yushiro? Is he only affected because he's got some power or something?'  
  
**********************************  
  
Back in Nerima:  
  
Ranma was sleeping through his history class as usual, when he started to twitch again. He was having disturbing images flood into his mind.   
  
A demon with a seven pointed sword slaughtering an army.   
  
Circles cut into stone.   
  
Two evil looking things duelling against each other.  
  
A man telling him to continue, "fight to the death!"  
  
Being betrayed by his family.  
  
Being killed in a battle against those he loved.  
  
Were these images of things that were, of things to come? He could not answer that question.  
  
His teacher threw some chalk at his head, having seen the automated defence reflex before. Still, he hoped to get lucky this time.  
  
He almost hit his target when it's right hand caught it and dropped it on the floor.  
  
"Saotome!"  
  
No response.  
  
"SAOTOME!" He bellowed  
  
"Wha?"  
  
"You were sleeping in class again. Give me a good reason why I don't send you into the hall."  
  
'I was having weird dreams in that I was some kind of crazed killer?' "I can't really sensei, sorry 'bout that." Ranma still had a suprised/pained look on his face.  
  
The teacher scowled at Ranma, there was only two minutes left of the lesson. Not much point in sending him out in the hall. "See me after class, Saotome."  
  
Ranma nodded.  
  
The rest of the class chuckled at Ranma. He really was the best source of entertainment in Nerima.  
  
After the lesson, the teacher started on his enquiry about Ranma's behaviour.  
  
"I don't know, sensei. But something strange has been going on lately."  
  
"With you it's there's always something strange going on. I know you sleep through a number of lessons, but seriously what's wrong. You're not having problems at home are you?"  
  
"What? You mean aside from the fact that I have three fiancees, the principal's son and daughter are trying to date me and kill me along with god knows how many other people?"  
  
"Yes." The teacher replied with a perfectly straight face.  
  
Ranma sighed. "Ok, try this on for size: I found out the other day that my mom is still alive. Not only that but before I left on that training trip I supposedly sign a death contract. One that says I'm gonna commit seppuku if I ain't a man among men."  
  
"But the curse...."  
  
"Yeah. But there is some good news though, she knows about the curse, and she's not gonna make me kill myself."  
  
"That's good, Ranma." His teacher was relived, not because Ranma was a good student, but he felt it reflected badly on schools when their students commited suicide.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder what she's like."  
  
"I expect that she's a traditional woman, the seppuku pledge indicates that much." Turning to the window, he continued, "I suggest you work on your manners. You can start by getting to your next lesson on time."  
  
"Yes, sensei."  
  
***********************************  
  
Back in Hokkaido Yushiro was being driven to the military hospital.  
  
"Sorry about this..." Yushiro managed weakly before passing out. The blood trickling down from his nose was staining his clothes.  
  
"I think he's having some kind of seizure, how long to we get to the hospital?"  
  
"Five minutes," the driver replied.  
  
The medic's thoughts were angry. 'Damn, these TAs. The pilots are put through too much stress.'   
  
After a medical examination, Yushiro was deemed to not be in any immediate danger.  
  
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but Yushiro needs to be kept under observation for a few days. We'll give him an MRI and x-rays in the morning to check if any thing shows up overnight. Has he received any head trauma recently?" The doctor asked Captain Kaburagi  
  
"Not that I know of. He seemed a little out of it before we started the test, but to tell you the truth, he seems that way a lot of the time lately. He's been through a lot recently, you know our unit was in Belgistan?"  
  
"Ahh yes, combat fatigue, but surely that would have expressed itself earlier."  
  
"That's not all, his father was killed in an inccident during Nishida's attempted coup." Kaburagi was not privvy to all of the facts, such as it was Yushiro's eldest brother, Kazukiyo, that killed their father.  
  
"Well, I can't say when he'll be fit for active duty, but I can tell you this - I recommend some serious R&R for him to recover when we discharge him from the hospital."  
  
***********************************  
  
6pm rolled around at the Tendo house. A woman in a traditional kimono walked up to the front door and rang the bell.  
  
"I'll get it," Kasumi called out.  
  
"Hello, my name is Nodoka Saotome. Are either my husband or my son here?"  
  
"Ah, hello, Mrs Saotome." Kasumi bowed. There was a faint splash outside, and suddenly there was panda sitting by the koi pond.  
  
"I'm afraid that your husband and Ranma are out on a training trip at the moment, but would you like to come in?"  
  
"Yes, thank you. Are you my son's fiance?"  
  
Kasumi blushed ever so slightly. "No, my youngest sister, Akane, is engaged to your son."   
  
"Is that her there?" Nodoka pointed at the red-haired girl in the garden.  
  
"Er, no. That's Ranko, our cousin."  
  
"Oh." Nodoka's act was well rehearsed.  
  
"Hello." The red-raired girl walked into the house greeted the older woman.  
  
"Hello dear, I'm Nodoka Saotome. I was hoping to find my son, Ranma. Have you seen him?"  
  
"Yes, unfortunately you just missed him. He had to train for a challenge match on Monday. He'll be gone for the weekend, I'm afraid."  
  
Nodoka looked downcast, "oh, well. Is his father training with him?" She eyed the panda curiously.  
  
"Yes, he felt that Ranma needed 'hands on' supervision this time." Ranko answered a bit sadly.  
  
"Well, I guess that can't be helped. After all, Ranma is a man among men and as such he needs to train constantly."  
  
The Tendos were starting to look nervous.  
  
"What do you mean, Mrs Saotome?" Ranko asked.  
  
"Please call me auntie Nodoka. Well, before I let Genma take Ranma off on the training trip, he promised that Ranma would be a man among men, or they'd both commit seppuku." Nodoka idly fingered the bundle in her arms.  
  
Nabiki and her sisters blanched at that. Genma had told them that she carried the Saotome homour blade around with her.  
  
"But I'm sure my husband did a good job with raising Ranma. But anyway, I'd like to meet with the girl that has captured the heart of my son."  
  
Akane was pushed forward by Soun.  
  
"Daddy, wait I never agreed to this." Akane struggled for briefly, then realised that she had Ranma's life and her engagement in her hands. "I mean, please don't push."  
  
Nodoka raised an eyebrow at this. She appraised Akane and her siblings, 'hmm, the sisters have better figures. The oldest one does seem a bit quiet and housewifish, but she is beautiful and you do have to watch the quiet ones. The middle one seems to be the one that might be able to make use of his curse to train him in the bedroom department.'  
  
"Well, I'll bring in the tea." Kasumi left the room.   
  
"Sit down, Mrs Saotome. Let me introduce my family to you."  
  
"Please, call me Nodoka. Since we are going to be family after all."  
  
"Alright. This is Nabiki, she's 17. This is Akane, she's 16 and Ranma's fiancee."  
  
Akane smiled at her future mother in law.  
  
Kasumi returned with the tea and started to pour it.  
  
"So then Akane, how did you meet my son?"  
  
"Well, he arrived on our doorstep one day with his father."  
  
"When did you decide to get engaged? Was it love at first sight? Did he seduce you? Did you seduce him?"  
  
"No, it was an arranged marriage." Akane looked at her father's friend who was making shushing gestures with his panda paws.  
  
"That's a bit odd. I mean, Genma never mentioned a fiancee in the letters he sent to me. How did Ranma feel about the idea?"  
  
"He rejected the idea, auntie Nodoka," Ranko chimed in.  
  
"What makes you say that, Ranko?"  
  
"Ranma and me are very close, almost like brother and sister. He told me that it was really his father's idea. He thinks that some of his father's ideas are a bit well, how do I say this?"   
  
"What Ranko is trying to say is that she and Ranma feel that your husband's judgement has had a few lapses over the years." Nabik's quick wits found a face saving answer. It was a lot kinder than the truth of 'your husband's a moron.'  
  
"I see, well I guess that happens when you're on the road a lot. So how did Akane get lucky with her selection as my son's bride?"  
  
Kasumi and Nabiki started to look a bit guilty about this.  
  
"What, is there something wrong with my son? Is he handicapped or disfigured?" Nodoka started to panic. 'Let's see how they deal with this.'  
  
"No, it's just that well..." Kasumi was looking for a reason to give other then 'it was so sudden that I was scared and your son turns into a girl. But I can't say that, because it's not very manly and I don't want him to die.'  
  
"Is he ugly?"  
  
"No, far from it auntie Nodoka," Nabiki answered. "It's just that your son has few rough edges that, well, were unexpected."  
  
"Like what? He doesn't have a strange condition or anything like that does he?" Nodoka looked over the Tendos.  
  
"Only that he's a perverted jerk," Akane mumbled.   
  
"He's a pervert? What do you mean, Akane?"  
  
"Well, it's that he.." Akane shut her mouth when she realised that was about to get Ranma killed. "He keeps leading on these other girls."  
  
"Hey, it's not like that! Ranma has two other girls that consider him their fiancee. Ukyo, a friend from his childhood and this chinese girl, Shampoo." 'Ranko' leapt to Ranma's defence. "He never wanted to get engaged just yet."  
  
"Oh. Can anyone tell me how it is that these other girls got 'engaged' to my son?"  
  
Nabiki pondered this. 'How do I tell that Genma ran out on another agreement? And what about those crazy Amazon marriage laws?'  
  
Kasumi was also in thought. 'I can't just let Genma get out of this one scott-free. He's ruined too many lives.' "Auntie Nodoka, I'm afraid that your husband had something to do with the engagement to Ukyo."  
  
"Oh, Kasumi, what do you mean? He didn't engage Ranma for food did he?" Nodoka asked jokingly.  
  
Everyone looked at a panda menacingly.  
  
"Oh, he did?"  
  
"Yeah, auntie Nodoka." Ranko answered truthfully. "I get the feeling that lots girls under the impression that they're engaged to Ranma." Ranko eyed Akane. "And NONE of them are his fault that - they chase after him."  
  
"Hey, if you weren't such a pervert, I wouldn't have to punish you so often, Ranma!"  
  
Everybody in the room froze.  
  
"Excuse me Akane, but did you just call Ranko here 'Ranma'?"  
  
"Oops, no. It was just a slip, they're really alike, sometimes we forget that they're not related by blood. But Ranko is not really Ranma cursed to turn into a girl," Akane started to babble, not realising she was making the situation worse.  
  
Nodoka started to grow a sweatdrop as everyone else started trying to distract her from Akane's admission.  
  
"So Ranko and Ranma aren't actually the same person?"  
  
"No, auntie Nodoka. That would be silly," Nabiki lied. 'Something's not quite right here, she knows more then she's letting on.'  
  
Ranko asked to be excused, claiming she needed some fresh air.  
  
"Of course, Ranko," Kasumi replied.  
  
Nodoka looked up, "Is something wrong with Ranko?"   
  
"She's had something on her mind for the last couple of days, auntie Nodoka." Kasumi answered.  
  
"Is the anything the matter at her school?" Nodoka asked innocently  
  
Nabiki pondered this for a moment. "I think that she is being bothered by a boy at school."  
  
"She's being harrased at school? Why doesn't the principal do something about this?"  
  
"The boy in question is the principal's son." Akane answered. "He's a real pervert. He keeps trying to date Ranko and me."  
  
"He also has a problem with Ranma because he keeps losing to Ranma. And if you factor in that Ranma's engaged to Akane, you have some serious animosity." Nabiki replied.  
  
"Oh. I think that I should have a word with Ranko about how to deal with unwanted advances." Nodoka paused for a moment be asking, "how does she deal with this attention?"  
  
"Normally with violence, auntie Nodoka." Akane answered. "But it doesn't seem to work for me or her."  
  
"Well then, perhaps it's time for the pair of you to try different methods of persuasion." Nodoka got up, "I think that Ranko needs some advice."  
  
Outside, Nodoka sat next to Ranko.  
  
"Is something the matter, Ranko?" Nodoka asked, suspicous of eavesdroppers.  
  
"I'm just not feeling well today, auntie Nodoka." Ranko replied quietly. 'I'm not Ranko, I'm your son Ranma.'  
  
Whispering into her ear, Nodoka spoke some soothing words, "don't worry Ranma. It's all just a ploy to see which of your fiancees is the best option."  
  
Ranko's face brightened.   
  
"Now, how about you tell me about my son?"  
  
"Well, he's really good at martial arts. The best in the area, aside from the old freak and the chinese girl's great-grandmother."  
  
"Old freak?"  
  
"Uncle Genma and uncle Soun's master. He's a real pervert, always attacking the girls around here. Ranma keeps him under control most of the time, but he's a tricky one."  
  
"I see, has he attacked you?"  
  
Ranko shuddered at the memory. "Yes, auntie."  
  
"What do those two do to stop it?" Nodoka was shocked that it was up to Ranma to keep the pervert in check.   
  
"Not a lot." Ranko's features darkened. "The didn't help at all. They're scared of him. Sometimes I think that the only reason they let me stay around here is to keep him occupied."  
  
Nodoka's face darkened. "Those two didn't help you and Ranma at all?"  
  
"No, auntie." Ranko was looking incredibly sad at this point.  
  
Seeing that there was little she could do with out revealing her trump card, Nodoka hugged her son-turned-girl. "Don't worry Ranko dear. I shall be having words with Mr Tendo about his behaviour."   
  
The rest of the evening went by slowly for the Tendos. Soun was being grilled by Nodoka about the pledge to join the schools of Anything Goes and how Happosai was allowed to do such things to Ranko; Akane about Ranma's 'perversions' and their relationship. Nabiki and Kasumi were questioned about Ranma's other fiancees and whether or not he was actually husband material.  
  
"Well, it's getting late it and I have much to think about. I shall have to talk with Ranma before I can make a decision regarding his manliness."  
  
And with that she left the Tendos and Genma to stew for a few days, whilst she talked to the other fiancees.  
  
***********************************  
  
The next day. Saturday afternoon, around teatime.  
  
Ranma was tired and unhappy. Happosai was to blame for his exhaustion, he'd been upsetting martial artists again. Naturally the old pervert had evaded responsibility again claiming "if you can't beat my heir, what chance do you think you'll have against me?" Having full confidence in Ranma, he left do one of his 'errands', which meant that many of the neighbourhood women would have to buy new lingerie.  
  
This, while irking Ranma vastly, was not the root of his unhappiness. No, he'd seen of the challengers without having to visit anybody for a new technique. He'd been hard pushed for sure, but it had been within his capabilities. No, the reason for his low spirits was his father. Ranma had found out that he'd been sold again. The dowery wasn't as bad as it had been in the past, money and food changed hands _this_ time. The problem was the fiancee.   
  
It was a he.  
  
Genma had engaged Ranma to another man. Genma needed a doctor after Ranma had spent some time alone with him.  
  
Akane had taken it the wrong way at first, claiming he was creating a harem for himself and how he was being perverted. Then she saw the fiancee. She quickly made her exit and collapsed on her bed with laughter at Ranma's expense.  
  
Nabiki and Kasumi had been worried at first, but they quickly took Ranma's side. Soon, the hot water heater was 'broken' and animal control called to the house. Soun did nothing as he was still shocked that Genma had betrayed the 'sacred pact to unite the schools of Anything Goes' once again. However, once Genma had returned, Soun perked up a bit as he was able to play shogi again.  
  
Ranma was out scoping for free eats to lift his mood when he saw Shampoo being followed back to the Nekohanten by a suspicious character. This was the deciding for his food based dilema. Whilst he had no plans to go back to China with the girl, he still considered her a friend and didn't want her hurt.  
  
That and she was a good cook.  
  
He was about to enter the cafe when Mousse came flying out backwards. Then he heard the sounds of struggle inside. Throwing caution to the wind, he ran inside.  
  
There was that same suspicious looking character. He was six feet tall. His build was comparable to that of a brick shithouse.(1)  
  
He moved towards Shampoo with a sinister look on his face. "so there little lady, what time do you finish work?"  
  
"You no want to underestimate amazon warriors. Very bad for health." Shampoo may have come across as an airhead, but she was no fool. She had more clue about the opposite sex than Ranma, but he's a social retard.  
  
"Oh, I know how strong you amazons are, that's what I like about you." He stretched his neck, making the vertebrae crack. "That and the kiss of marriage rule."  
  
"Hiyaaah!" Shampoo charged in ready to bring the pain to the upstart male, who she (rightly) suspected of doing unspeakable acts to her fellow warriors.  
  
He blocked the bon-bori strike with his tonfa before jumping back, to give himself some room for his next planned attack.   
  
The two traded blows for half a minute before Shampoo saw an opening. Moving in for a round house kick, Shampoo recieved a nasty suprise for her trouble.  
  
*CRACK*  
  
A weighted tonfa swung down and broke her right tibia. A small knife was thrust into her thigh and twisted.  
  
Shampoo screamed in pain as she was knocked to the floor. But that was not going to get her a respite in this fight, as she found her clavicles bruised from a quick barrage of strikes.  
  
"Heh, heh. Not so confident now, are you? Now I will have some fun."  
  
The man pulled out some cord from a pouch on his belt, planning on restraining his prize.  
  
"Not so fast, Sicko," Ranma came running in, intent on making the man pay.  
  
The two traded blows for much longer then Shampoo and Mousse lasted combined.  
  
"You're not bad, kid. I might have to spend some time dealing with you."  
  
"Heh, I don't lose. Certainly not to scum like you!" Ranma charged in using the amaguriken to keep his opponent off balance.  
  
Pressing the attack Ranma kicked his adversary in his major vitals, making sure that once he was down, he stamped on his genitals.   
  
"Shampoo, where's the old ghoul?"  
  
"Great-grandmother off seeing nasty supplier-man. He charge too too much for ingredients."  
  
"When will she be back?"  
  
"Soon," Shampoo winced in pain when Ranma inspected the broken bone.  
  
Ranma left to get a first aid kit when he heard a voice.  
  
"Heh, you think that I am done so easily? Taste this bitch!"  
  
The downed man pointed a tube at Shampoo, "No!" Ranma jumped infront of Shampoo, only to be hit by a few dozen metal fragments.  
  
"Unngh!"  
  
Cologne hopped in, seeing the mess that had been made, Shampoo and Ranma's injuries and the man pointing the metal tube at them. She made the right assumption and promptly knocked the asasilent out using a combination of pressure points and her cane.  
  
She picked up the phone and called for an ambulance. Hanging up she went over to Shampoo for answers.  
  
"{I don't know who the man is great grandmother, but he said he know about our kiss of marriage law. He said he liked how strong we were.}"  
  
"{How did son-in-law get injured? He's quite skilled.}"  
  
"{ He dived infront of the weapon when it was pointed at me. Airen is so brave, it was really romantic. Will he be ok?}"  
  
"{I called an ambulance for him, it's not looking good. he's bleeding a bit too much for my liking. How did this scumbag here beat you? It looks like son-in-law came to the rescue.}"  
  
"{He caught me by suprise. He's strong, like that lost boy, only he was faster than I thought he would be given his size.}"  
  
"{Hmm, maybe we should be thankful that son-in-law acts without thinking. These metal shards look quite painful.}"  
  
"{Yes, great-grandmother. I will make sure that I express my gratitude when he recovers.}"  
  
***********************************  
  
At the hospital  
  
The doctors were rushing around in the emergency room trying to stem the blood loss from Ranma's torso.  
  
"It's not looking good, we're going to have to operate. Let's get him upstairs."  
  
"What kind of monster would dop this ? Look at the lacerations, I haven't seen anything like this for ten years!"  
  
"What happened then?"  
  
"Some child was attacked by starving animals. Say, the boy looks familiar..." the senior nurse trailed off as Ranma was wheeled off into the operating theatre.  
  
Later when the Tendos arrived with Genma, they were speaking with a doctor about Ranma's condition.  
  
"I'm Dr Yamada, I have some good news and bad news about Ranma's condition. The good news is he will recover and if he keeps his level of fitness up, be able to lead a relatively normal life. Bad news is, we had to remove a lung and a kidney. I talked to him when he woke up and he mentioned something about a curse. Do any of you know what he's talking about?"  
  
"Yes, I'm Akane Tendo. I'm his fiancee. His condition is called a Jusenkyo curse. I can demonstrate with Ranma's father right now if you have some cold water."  
  
"Here," Akane was handed a cup.  
  
Genma was turned into a panda. The doctor was stunned. "How?"  
  
"It's magic. Ranma turns into a girl. That's why he mentioned it to you. If he transforms, then he might rip out his sutures." Cologne spoke up having heard the conversation with the doctor.  
  
"What do you want Cologne?" Akane asked.  
  
"I just checking if you all knew why Ranma was here in the hospital."  
  
"Why should you care?"  
  
"Why did you refer to Ranma as Ranma, not 'son-in-law?" Nabiki nad noticed this, and felt that something was up.  
  
"Well, it seems that Ranma sacrificed himself to save Shampoo's honour."   
  
"What was that idiot doing with Shampoo?" Akane fumed.  
  
"He come for food, and save Shampoo from too too nasty man," Shampoo spoke when she hobbled up to them.   
  
"WHAT?" came the reply from the crowd.  
  
"The reason for Ranma's being here in the hospital is because a most unsavoury man planned to do unpleastant things to Shampoo." Cologne filled everybody in. "As for not referring to Ranma as son-in-law, it seems that we amazons owe him a debt. The man in question has proved to be an enemy to women everywhere, like Happy, but only more violent and not as skilled. And as thanks, the local repreesntative of council of eldars has freed Ranma from the kiss of marriage."  
  
Shampoo looked sad.  
  
Soun and Genma rejoiced as an obstracle was removed from their dream of uniting the schools of Anything Goes.  
  
"I'll let every one know that the must not have cold water around him."  
  
"Thank you, doctor."  
  
"Now you are the father?"  
  
#That's right# The sign read.  
  
"Right then, your son will need to stay here for some time. Judging by his physical condition, he was training for something important. What was it?"  
  
"He was training to take over the Tendo dojo. Is he going to be able to do that?" Soun asked.  
  
"He'll be able to continue as if it were a hobby and to keep his good condition, but he won't be able to take over this dojo as you planned."  
  
#Why must I be cursed with such a weak son?# Genma-panda started to wail.  
  
Kasumi glared at him.  
  
The panda tried to slink away but was tripped up by a cane.  
  
"Your 'weak son' has helped us deal with a violent sex offender."   
  
"Oh my." Kasumi and Nabiki chorused eerily. Ranma suddenly became more heroic in their eyes.   
  
'Perhaps I should nicer to him,' Nabiki mused.  
  
***********************************  
  
Back at the Tendo home.  
  
"What shall we do Genma? The schools might never be joined now. Who will take over the dojo?"  
  
"Maybe the Hibiki boy? He's quite skilled and he seems to like Akane."  
  
"Yes, that's a great idea. You might have to train him in Anything Goes first, but it might just work." Soun then dragged his friend off to a nearby bar, unaware that Kasumi and was listening in to their conversation.  
  
"Oh my, what will happen to Ranma-kun?"  
  
***********************************  
  
Later  
  
"Akane, we need to talk with you about Ranma," Kasumi and Nabiki entered her room.  
  
"What about Ranma?" Akane asked.  
  
"Father is thinking about breaking off the engagement with the Saotomes, so he can continue the school with you and Ryoga," Kasumi informed her youngest sister.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Ranma won't be able to practice the art to level he used to, with only a single lung and kidney." Kasumi's knowledge was making itself known.  
  
"Akane, do you have any feelings for Ranma?" Nabiki asked. "I admit that my engagement to him was only a plan to get you two to admit how you felt about each other."  
  
"I don't know. I mean Ryoga is so much nicer to me than Ranma, but he never stays around for very long," Akane's answer was not the one her sisters had been hoping for.  
  
"Well, if that is the case, I'm sure Ukyo will be pleased, as that would be the only standing engagement concerning Ranma," Kasumi brought up a valid point.  
  
"Well, I'm sure that Ranma will be gutted that he's losing his harem."  
  
"Let's go, Kasumi, it seems that Ranma is going to be cast out anyway."  
  
Kasumi was a little disapointed with her little sister, but she hide well. She turned to leave Akane's room, when Akane spoke to her.  
  
"Since when do you two care about that idiot? I seem to rembember being foisted off on to him by the other bridal candidates."  
  
"You're right, I should really be glad that we'll be getting rid of one of our freeloaders. What about you Kasumi?"  
  
"I was scared, ok? But we were becoming friends. He was someone who saw me as something other then a housekeeper." Kasumi stormed off.  
  
"It's all Ranma's fault, Nabiki. Before he showed up, we were all happy here." Akane fumed, because of _Ranma's_ actions, Kasumi was upset.  
  
"Hhmm." With that, Nabiki followed her older sister out to comfort her.   
  
***********************************  
  
The next day, Ranma woke up in his hospital bed and panicked. "Argh! Where am I?"  
  
The nurse on duty rushed into the room to calm him down. "It's ok, you're in a hospital. You were badly injured. I'll get the doctor."  
  
Dr Yamada entered ther room.   
  
"So, then Ranma. How are you feeling today?"  
  
"Lousy, doc. What happend?"  
  
"What's the last thing you remember?"  
  
"I was in the Nekohanten, a Chinese restaurant, fighting some guy. Then it goes blank."  
  
"Well, it seems that you dived infront of a girl to save her life. I think her name is Shampoo."  
  
"Y-yeah, she works there. But where are my folks?"   
  
"They're not here. We didn't expect your condition to improve so quickly. I can call them if you like."  
  
"No, I could do with a break from people trying to get me to marry 'em."  
  
The doctor raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean people, Ranma? I thought your fiancee was Akane Tendo."  
  
"My pops engaged me to a bunch of girls."  
  
"Well, I have some news about that. It seems that the chinese girl's great-grandmother told your folks that she no longer has any claim on you."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Apperently, it was a reward for saving her life and virture. She looked pretty upset about not being engaged to you."  
  
"Yeah, well I ain't ready for anything like that yet. But it'll be nice to have her as a friend."  
  
Ranma finished with a smile before drifting off back to sleep.  
  
***********************************  
  
To be continued  
  
***********************************  
  
(1) It's a saying where I live - if someone is 'built like a brick shithouse,' then you don't want to spill his pint. For a visual reference think Dolph Lungren or Arnold Schwarzenegger in the mid to late 1980's.  
  
Thanks are to be given to Chi Vayne for his assistance with Nodoka's first meeting with the Tendos. 


	5. Hello Ukyo, and Goodbye Genma

Chapter 4  
  
**************  
  
Ranma lay in his hospital bed, slowly digesting the news of his condition.  
  
'So, I'm missing a lung and a kidney. I'm gonna be stuck in the hospital for a while. What am I gonna do? I'm no longer the best.' Ranma started to get depressed. 'It's all for nothing. No way I can -' Ranma's thought was cut off suddenly by a vision.  
  
He saw a man willing to sacrifice his own son .  
  
A son willing to kill his own father for power.  
  
A glass case with the body of a boy in it.  
  
A word - Kai.  
  
A nurse was alerted to his room by the sounds of his heart moniter. She came rushing in, saw the numbers on the equipment and screamed for a doctor.  
  
"What? That can't be right. The human heart shouldn't reach 240 bpm.  
  
"It can't take that kind of pace. He'll flatline soon."  
  
"What do we do, doctor?"   
  
"I-I don't know it's never happened before. Shit, it's rising."  
  
The doctor and nurse rushed around preparing the crash cart, unaware that the emergency was ending as Ranma came out of his trance.  
  
"Doc? What's going on?" Ranma managed weakly.  
  
"Ranma? You're ok?"  
  
"My head's a little fuzzy and my chest hurts,it feels like it's on fire. But I've had worse," he added in his usual macho tone.  
  
"Well, we had a little scare there. Your heart rate rocketed." The doctor was more than a little concerned. "I'm not suprised your chest feels like it's on fire. I have no idea what could cause that, so I'm ordering a full set of blood tests. Nurse, if you don't mind."  
  
"Not at all, doctor."  
  
After the nurse had left to drop the sample off at the lab, the doctor closed the door. "Now, Ranma, what caused that little episode?"  
  
"I dunno, doc. I was thinking about what you told me about my future, when I had this vision. I saw some odd things. Hey, does the word 'kai' mean anything to you?"  
  
"Not a lot, other than shellfish, but I doubt that's what you meant. I'm going to have to ask you not to stress your heart like that, it's dangerous. It was scary, and I was a spectator."  
  
"Sorry about that." Ranma was apologetic. 'Crap, I can't even be in the hospital without causing people trouble.'  
  
"Don't worry too much Ranma, or it'll happen more often. Now get some rest."   
  
**************  
  
On Monday morning, Nabiki was walking to school with Akane.  
  
"So Akane, are you going to see Ranma after school?"  
  
"I suppose so," Akane's response was half-hearted at best.  
  
"What? If you keep this up, you'll lose him for good."  
  
"Lose who?" Ukyo asked walking up to the sisters.  
  
Nabiki fought the reflex action of demanding money. "I'll tell you, but it stays between us, understand?"  
  
Ukyo nodded and reached for her wallet but Nabiki stopped her. "This is important - it's about Ranma."  
  
This started to sound the alarm bells in the heads of those listening.  
  
"First of all, the good news: Shampoo no longer has a claim on Ranma."  
  
Ukyo brightened at this news. 'That damn Amazon bimbo is out of the way. That's one less obstacle between me and Ranchan.'  
  
"There's some bad news as well, Ukyo." Nabiki moved in to whisper to her."Remember to keep this quite."  
  
Ukyo stiffened. "W-why? What's up?"  
  
"Ranma's in the hospital." Akane blurted out, irritated that Ranma was taking the attention despite his absence.  
  
Soon it was spreading like wildfire and changing with every re-telling. First Shampoo had dumped Ranma and ran of back to China with Mousse. The more astute members of the student body remembered Nabiki's behaviour at the school gates. Ranma was in hospital for trying something with Nabiki, or so the girls thought.  
  
The boys were under the impression that Akane had dumped Ranma and Nabiki caught him on the rebound.  
  
By lunchtime, Nabiki decided she'd had enough. Calling a meeting with her factors and Ukyo, she decided that they needed to know what was going on.  
  
"Ranma is going through a lot at the moment.1) He's still going through a rough patch with Akane because of that damn reversal jewel. 2) He saw his mother for the first time in ten years on Friday. But he had to hide from her. If he revealed his curse to her, he'd have to kill himself. Some rubbish about being 'a man among men.' And Akane accidentally let slip about his curse in front of his mother. 3) He's in hospital because of injuries sustained from saving Shampoo from a rapist."  
  
This piece of information brought forth a gasp from the audience.  
  
"4) Shampoo's claim is no more as thanks from the Amazons. 5) He might be cast out from dojo as he can't take over the school. His injuries meant that they had to take out a lung and a kidney. Oh, and Ranma dosen't know this, but Akane admitted that she thinks more highly of Ryoga then Ranma and she is blaming him for Kasumi being upset."  
  
"That's a lot for anyone to deal with," Ukyo spoke honestly. "Plus there's all the other stuff he has to deal with, I'm suprised he's not gone nuts."  
  
Nabiki's eyes widened at the thought of Ranma going berserk. "That's not funny Ukyo. But I think we should be careful when he comes out of hospital."  
  
"Right, I'm gonna ditch last period to go visit him," Ukyo decided. "Hey, how come you're not charging me for this?"  
  
Nabiki looked a hurt at this. "I'm not feeling too good about some of the things I've done to Ranma. I'm tryin to be nicer to one of Kasumi's friends. And like Ranma, she doesn't have too many of those."  
  
"Sorry about that, Nabiki. I din't mean to sound nasty." Ukyo apologised.  
  
"I know, but it's getting to me as well. Sod it, cover for me. I'm taking this afternoon off to visit Ranma. Ukyo, do you want to come?"  
  
"Hell yeah. Shall we pick up Kasumi? I think she'll want to see her friend."  
  
**************  
  
At the hospital, Nodoka Saotome asked for directions to her son's room.  
  
Knocking on the door, she let herself in. "Ranma! What happened to you?"  
  
"I got injured saving Shampoo."  
  
"Tell me the whole story. This happened a few days ago, yes?"  
  
Ranma nodded, and took a deep breath. "It started on Saturday afternoon. Someone showed up claiming to be engaged to me....."  
  
**************  
  
At the reception desk Ukyo, Kasumi and Nabiki announced their intention to visit Ranma.  
  
"And you are?"  
  
"I'm Ukyo Kuonji, Ranma's fiancee."  
  
"I'm Nabiki Tendo, this is my sister, Kasumi. We're Ranma's friends."  
  
"I see. Well, he's on the fifth floor, room 534. Be aware that he might be sleeping, so keep it down, ok?"  
  
**************  
  
A nurse knocked on Ranma's door. "Excuse me, but Ranma's fiancee is here. Are you well enough to have visitors?"  
  
"Akane Tendo?" Nodoka asked hopefully.  
  
"Ukyo Kuonji. Wait a minute, you have two fiancees?"  
  
"Yeah, pops has sold me off a few times. Sometimes for food."  
  
Nodoka winced at Ranma's tone of acceptance at being sold off like property.  
  
"Anyway, she's here with two other girls. Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo."  
  
"Send them in please," Nodoka thought that if these girls are the best suited to Ranma, then she'd talk to them.  
  
"Hello Kasumi, Nabiki."  
  
"H-hello auntie Nodoka." Nabiki was shocked to see Ranma talking to his mother.  
  
"Hello, Mrs Saotome. I'm Ukyo Kuonji, Ranma's fiancee."  
  
"That's the one pops stole the dowery from." Ranma helpfully supplied.  
  
"Oh." Nodoka bowed to Ukyo. "I apologise for the actions of my husband."  
  
Ukyo was taken aback. "That's ok. I accept your apology." Ukyo turned to Ranma. "Ah,Ranchan, still acting without thinking?"  
  
"Heh, you would have it any other way." Ranma turned to the Tendo sisters. "So what brings you here? Where's Akane?"  
  
"She's still in school, Ranma. We ditched this afternoon's lessons to pay you a visit." Nabiki answered.  
  
Nodoka noticed that Kasumi looked uncomfortable. "Is something wrong, Kasumi?"  
  
"Erm, sort of. It's a bit awkward, it concerns Ranko."  
  
"Oh, I know all about Ranko. How she and Ranma are one and the same. That was just a test to see if Akane and Ranma were suited to each other. I admit that I favoured the Tendo arrangement due to it being the first. But having met the girl, she seems unsuitable for my manly son."  
  
"You mean that Ranma is 'a man among men' and won't have to kill himself?" Nabiki asked, her hunch about Nodoka knowing more than she let on was quickly being proved right.  
  
Ukyo blanched slightly. "So that's why Ranchan was a bit out of it this week."  
  
"You think that I'd force my only child to kill himself?"  
  
"Well, with Ranchan, it made sense. I mean Ryoga keeps trying to kill him 'cos of a missed duel. And that was over bread," Ukyo answered truthfully. "When I first tracked him down, I wanted to kill him."  
  
"Oh my, " Nodoka replied. "Well, I think that Genma will be glad I'm not going to go on the Rampage. But there's something else. What is it?"  
  
Nabiki took a deep breath. "Auntie Nodoka, because of Ranma's new physical condition, his father and ours are looking to get Ryoga Hibiki to take of the dojo instead."  
  
"Oh, great pops, just when I think you can't sink any lower, you do this to me." Ranma was beginning to wonder if any court would convict him if he killed his father.  
  
"It seems that I need to have words with your father and Mr Tendo, son."  
  
"So Ranchan, I hear you defended Shampoo's honour."  
  
"Yeah, some sick bastard was looking to some nasty stuff to her - I couldn't let that happen. Despite what Akane says, I ain't no pervert. I'd never force my self on anyone."  
  
That was all the prompting Nodoka needed to start hugging Ranma. "I knew you'd be a good man, son."  
  
"Mom, can you and everyone keep my recovery a secret? I don't want to deal with any other people right now." Ranma started yawning, "come by tomorrow, if you like. The food here's terrible." Ranma was out like a light.  
  
The Tendos chuckled at Ranma's last statement.  
  
Ukyo giggled, "Ranchan's better alright."  
  
Nodoka cleared her throat. "Now, how do you girls feel about my son? How would you treat him if he wasn't honour-bound to marry into either of your families?"  
  
"Why?" Nabiki asked.  
  
"Because, one way for Ranma to save any amount of face is to renounce the Saotome name. I have no problem with any of you girls dating my son, but I don't want him forced into an unhappy marriage."  
  
Kasumi pondered that for a moment. "He might be young, but he's definately not boring. And he does see me as something other then a surrogate mother. But I'm not sure about anything more then friendship."  
  
"I tried an engagement to him, but I screwed it up by manipulating him. But if I had a second chance, I'd take it. None of the other prospects around here come close to Ranma."  
  
Ukyo looked slightly panicked, but was calm enough to give a coherent arguement for her case. "My life was ruined because I was abandoned. The only reason I'm still here is because there's a chance I can reclaim my honour by marrying Ranchan. And now you're telling me that all agreements could be off? What am I going to do?"  
  
Nodoka frowned. 'Damned honour. Maybe we can adopt her into my clan?' "Were you abandoned by your own clan?"  
  
"Yes."   
  
"I have an idea. If there was no Ranma Saotome, how would that affect your standing?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but since I'm now legally registered as male, I can't go back to my old life."  
  
'What's she planning?'  
  
"I have to talk this over with my family, but it seems that we could be adopting you. As a girl, free to marry whomever you like. But I must tell you this: Ranma sees you as his best friend. He told me he likes you, I think he might even love you, just not in the way a husband should love his wife."  
  
"Oh." Ukyo started to look depressed.  
  
"But that doesn't mean you can't be his mistress." Nodoka smiled. "I have no problem with my manly son having two or three mistresses."  
  
The girls started to blush. Luckily Ranma was fast asleep, otherwise he would have risked further complictions trying to escape the embarrassment.  
  
"I think we can sort that out later. Kasumi, Nabiki - we are going to visit your father."  
  
**************  
  
Nodoka was stitting at the table glaring at Soun. "So, where are my husband and Ranma?"  
  
Soun was shaking like a leaf. "They're not here."  
  
"I can see that. Where's Ranko?"  
  
"I- err."  
  
"Could it be that my son and Ranko are one and the same, MISTER Panda?" She pulled out a sharping stone from inside her kimono .  
  
Genma was in panda form, sweating bullets.  
  
"You've obviously done a good job in raising him, Genma. He risked life and limb to save one of his friends." Nodoka said almost absently.  
  
Genma started to relax slightly.  
  
"But why did you engage him so many times?" Nodoka got up and poured her hot tea over her husband. "And why to another boy?"  
  
"But I was hungry," Genma whined. It was not the smartest thing to say.  
  
"Genma, Genma, Genma. What am I going to do with you?" Nodoka started to hone the blade of her Katana. "I mean first you engage our son before he's even born. Then you engage him again to his best friend and countless other times. Next came Jusenkyo."  
  
"I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I'm getting a divorce and Ranma is coming to live with me. I really don't care what you do your damned school of Anything Goes." Nodoka wasn't really sorry, but one had to keep up appearences.  
  
Genma let out a breath in relief at having avoided the business end of Nodoka's katana.  
  
Nodoka turned to the Tendo patriarch, "Soun, thank you for the hospitality you've extended to my son. I shall collect his things and bid you farewell. What you do with Genma is up to you." Nodoka resheathed her sword and left to retrive Ranma's belongings from the guest room.  
  
**************  
  
To be continued. 


	6. Blood Work

Chapter 5  
  
*******************************  
  
At the hospital lab, a technician puzzled of the results of a full blood test. Calling his supervisor over to look at the source of his boggle. "I have no idea what that is," the technician pointed at the mysterious protein structure. "The rest of the sample is fine, aside from the huge amounts of adrenaline, of course."   
  
"I've never seen anything like it before. I think it's time to call in a favour at Gowa central labs. We'll let them take a look at it."  
  
"Can we do that? Won't we get into trouble?"  
  
"I'm in charge here, you just look at a cute nurse when they come to pick up the sample and the data we got."  
  
"Can do boss," the technician mock saluted.  
  
The supervisor smiled and pulled out a mobile phone and dialed. "Yeah, I've got something for you guys to look at. It's really strange."  
  
*******************************  
  
The next morning, Ranma was checked out of the hospital by Nodoka. She told him that he was coming home with her. What was the deciding factor was Ranma's improved condition: he was up and moving around after only a few days. Both of them promising that they would go straight to a doctor should Ranma's health start to decline.  
  
"So son, what do you think of the Tendo girls?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I know how you feel about Ukyo," Nodoka stated sagely. "I just want to see if there's anybody in Nerima that you cared about enough to want to date. Maybe the one of the Tendo girls."  
  
"Well, Kasumi's nice enough. But she's given so much up that I just feel she deserves someone better then me. I mean I can't even teach the Art anymore. And I don't know anything else."  
  
"Hmm, and Nabiki?"  
  
Ranma thought long and hard about his former fiancee. "I don't know, mom. I mean when she was engaged to me, she didn't exactly treat me with the upmost respect." Seeing his mother's face darken, he added a qualifier. "But it wasn't like Akane - she acted more like a manager than someone I was going to get married to."  
  
"Well you don't have to marry anyone just yet. Tomorrow, we're going to Furinken to change your details there. But I would like grandchildren at some point," she finished with a smile.  
  
Ranma merely blushed lightly in reponse.  
  
*******************************  
  
Nodoka invited the Tendo daughters to the Saotome house for tea and to judge their suitability for Ranma. Akane declined due to prior commitments but refused to say what they were, but her sisters accepted without hesitation.  
  
All were enjoying afternoon tea with some snacks whipped up by Kasumi and Nodoka. Eventually the converstation turned from an informal interview of the Tendo girls to Ranma enquiring about his previously unknown family.  
  
"So mom, what's your family like?"  
  
"Well, son, I'm from an old family. My father was a general in the Self Defence Force. his brother was a business man." Nodoka answered sipping from her tea. "He ran the family business."  
  
"Where are your family based, auntie Nodoka?" Kasumi asked.  
  
Nabiki looked on thinking 'something is not sitting right here.'  
  
"In Gowa City. Though I haven't seen some of my family for some time, I do hope that I can take Ranma to see them."  
  
"Why?" Nabiki asked, getting the feeling that Genma had something do with it.  
  
Nodoka looked uncomfortable as she tried to word her response, "shall we say they didn't exactly approve of my choice of husband."  
  
Nabiki and Kasumi nodded in understanding.  
  
"So what's your family name, auntie Nodoka?" Nabiki asked before taking a sip of tea.  
  
"Gowa."  
  
*PFFT* Nabiki managed to spray Ranma from the other side of the table.   
  
After a moment to compose herself, Nabiki spoke, " sorry about that Ranma. Did you say Gowa? As in Gowa Digital Systems?"  
  
"Yes Nabiki, those Gowas." Nodoka handed Ranma a towel. 'I wonder if Nabiki has figured it out yet?'  
  
"What does that mean? I've never heard of them." Ranma's life on the road was making itself known.   
  
"Ranma, they build computers and the like," Nabiki informed her former house-guest. "They're part of a big company. Kasumi, I think we'd better be getting back now."  
  
"Oh my, yes we have be going now. Thank you for your hospitality, auntie." Kasumi bowed to Nodoka.  
  
*******************************  
  
The courrier arriving at Gowa's central lab complex with the blood sample and data from the hospital was quickly ushered inside.  
  
The duty manager called Kiyotsugu in. "Well, what do you make of this?"  
  
A complex molecule's gas chromatograph analysis was being displayed on the main monitor. It was the same one that stumped the hospital technician.  
  
"Where did this come from?"  
  
"The hospital in Nerima. According to the note my contact sent, it's from a Ranma Saotome. Does that mean anything to you?"   
  
"Yes. Compare that molecule to the sample from Kinashi and compound D." Pulling out his phone, he speed dialled his brother. "Kiyoharu, sorry about this, but I need you to Ranma here in the lab for testing, I don't care what you have to do - beg, bribe or kidnap him, I want to do some tests."   
  
*Why?*  
  
"He might just be the key to the next stage in TA development. We got a sample from his blood, it's something interesting in it."  
  
*I'll do what I can. Expect to hear from me later today.* Kiyoharu hung up.  
  
*******************************  
  
On the way back to the Tendo house, Kasumi and Nabiki walked in silence.  
  
Nabiki was in a quandry. She had blackmailed, extorted, pimped out and generally made life unpleasant for some who had links to one of the most powerful families in Japan. The Kuno family was rich and had an old samurai history, but the Gowa clan: people said it went back to when Nara was the capitol city.  
  
Kasumi was also having troubled thoughts, only she was thinking about her youngest sister's treatment of Ranma. 'Was Akane really the best choice for Ranma?'   
  
"Kasumi, we need to talk. Can you spare a few minutes?"  
  
"Yes we do. Do you think that the budget can stretch for take-out for tonight? I don't feel like cooking."  
  
"I think that we can afford it."  
  
"That's good to hear. Now, where shall we talk?"  
  
"My room, if you'll bring the tea, I can find something for us to snack on."  
  
*******************************  
  
"So then Nabiki, what do you want to talk about?"  
  
"It's about Ranma, sis. What are am I going to do? I've done very litle to make his life here pleasant. I've blackmailed him, sold photos of him to the Kunos. I've rented him out to his fiancees, sold him out to his rivals." She sighed, "I've played him like a 100 yen flute."   
  
"You're worried that if his family hears about the things you've done, your life could be ruined."  
  
Nabiki nodded. "What about you?"  
  
"I was thinking about Ranma, were we right to press-gang Akane into the engagement? He's not perfect, but is he really the idiotic, perverted thug Akane makes him out to be?"  
  
"Well the curse scared me off at first. I thought that if we engaged him to Akane, then we would have some breathing room to figure a way out of the mess." Nabiki nibbled on some strawberry pocky. "But then, you know he made our lives just so much more interesting. And yes, there was also the money I made off him."  
  
"I know what you mean, but he did always help us when we needed it, remember the Chardin affair?"  
  
Nabiki shuddered. "Yeah, I was grateful for his curse then. I guess that I would miss the jerk if he left us."  
  
"Me too. Do you think that you could have the life his mother suggested?"  
  
Nabiki stopped in mid-munch. "I still think I've ruined any chance of a long term relationship with him, but if I get the chance, I'll give it a go. How about Akane?"  
  
"I don't know, how can we find out if she genuinely likes him?"  
  
"Kasumi, are you sure that Ranma likes Akane the best?"  
  
"Yes. Simply because through thick and thin, he's been there for our sister. He never cheated on her, despite all of the ample opportunities he's had. And those girls had more going for them then she did."  
  
Nabiki nodded in inderstanding. "Probably because she wanted to be his friend when he arrived. We need to talk with Akane and find out once and for all how she feels."  
  
*******************************  
  
Akane was out window shopping with her friends when Ryoga stumbled by.  
  
"Akane! I'm in Nerima?"  
  
"Yes, Ryoga-kun," Akane giggled.  
  
"W-w-would you like to go for some tea or something?" Ryoga stammered, blushing.  
  
"Yeah, let's go here," she pointed to the shop a few metres up the road. Bidding her friends farewell, Akane lead Ryoga to the tea shop.  
  
One of Nabiki's little helpers saw this and reported back to her boss.  
  
*******************************  
  
To be continued... 


	7. Goodbye to the Madhouse

Project Mile Two  
  
Chapter 6   
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
  
  
Kiyoharu was unhappy with the news that Yushiro had been hospitalised after piloting a TA. After a talk with Kiyotsugu and Misuzu, he pulled some strings to get his youngest brother discharged from the Self Defence Force. Feeling that he had done something worthy of being called a brother, he went to Nodoka to meet with Ranma for the first time.   
  
  
  
  
  
"Hello Ranma. I'm Kiyoharu, your mother's cousin. We decided to move you to the Gowa family register."   
  
  
  
"Mom mentioned that I had to abandon the name 'Saotome'. So what does this mean for me?"   
  
  
  
"Well, first of all we go to the municipal court and change your details, then we'll go to Furinken to get you excused from school for a few days."   
  
  
  
"Why?" Ranma had a blank look on his face.   
  
  
  
"We want to show you a few things about your family and introduce you to everyone." Standing up, Kiyoharu motioned for the soon-to-be former Saotomes to get into the waiting car. "So Ranma, what do you want to do with your life?"   
  
  
  
"Well, I was gunna be a martial artist, but now..." he trailed off. 'No I ain't gonna be like Ryoga.' "I don't know now. You got any ideas?"   
  
  
  
"Funny that you should ask that," Nodoka's cousin replied with a grin that reminded him of Nabiki. "I would like you to meet my brother, Kiyotsugu. He's an engineer working on some special projects, and we think that you could help us."   
  
  
  
"Oh, well, I'll do what I can." Ranma shrugged. "Though I don't know what I can do to help some science project."   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
The visit to the municipal building was surprisingly short, the Gowa's legal team having prepared much of the needed paperwork for the name transfer and divorce request.   
  
  
  
  
  
The trip to Furinken was subdued as Ranma contemplated his new found freedom. He was no longer obligated to uphold any agreements, promises or pledges made in the name of Ranma Saotome. That meant if Ryoga started to scream death threats at him again, he could simply reveal his secret identity to everybody - showing him up to be the pervert Akane always accused him of being. It also meant that he was free to marry for love.   
  
  
  
Now if only he could the right girl. One that would treat him with respect and not like a prize or a punching bag.   
  
  
  
His thoughts turned to Nabiki's behaviour, she was treating him like a person and not like a puppet for the past few days. Maybe it was a ploy, maybe she wanted to be friends. But it wasn't a fight and it wasn't food, so Ranma was more than a little puzzled.   
  
  
  
Then Ucchan became his focus. She was no longer out for his blood or hand in marriage, that meant that they could be friends again. His mother had suggested that by not forcing them to be married, that their friendship could develop into something more then what they currently had.   
  
  
  
Of course Nodoka thought that her manly son would need at least two girls to satisfy his needs and urges. She wisely kept this opinion to herself, lest she scare and alienate Ranma.   
  
  
  
  
  
*********************   
  
  
  
Nabiki was sitting quietly, her thoughts about Ranma. 'Am I after Ranma for material gain? His family is rich and has lots of contacts in industry. Hell, they own lots of companies. It could work out between us, if I show him trust and support. But how do I convince Ranma that I am not after him for material gain?'  
  
Kuno started his usual babbling about defeating Ranma especially because of Ranma's condition, "that foul sorcerer Saotome shall taste my righteous wrath today."   
  
  
  
"Kuno, I've got something to tell you about Ranma."   
  
  
  
"Oh, and what is this, pray tell?"   
  
  
  
Nabiki held out her hand, "5000 yen, if you please."   
  
  
  
Kuno grumbled, but pulled out his wallet. "There, now what do you have to tell me about Saotome?"   
  
  
  
"First of all, he's not a Saotome now," Nodoka's voice came from the doorway.   
  
  
  
"Auntie Nodoka, what are you doing here?"   
  
  
  
"Changing a few of Ranma's details. You know, his new family name. And I'm withdrawing him from this school, since that principal attacked my cousin and I." Nodoka glared at the principal's heavily bruised form that was standing in the doorway.   
  
  
  
Nabiki winced. "Just so you know, Kuno-chan, that's Ranma's mother. And his new family name is Gowa."   
  
  
  
"Gowa? As in Gowa city?" Kuno's less then stellar mind started to grind into action.   
  
  
  
"Yes. Are you then one that has been harassing my son and that girl, Ranko?"   
  
  
  
"B-but, they are older then even the Kuno clan. Their history goes back to the Heian period," Kuno was stunned that the low born Saotome was actually not so low born.   
  
  
  
"I believe that my family's history goes back even further then that, young man." Kiyoharu spoke for the first time, moving his glasses so that a ray of sunlight hit them just so. "Ranma is coming with us, away from this mad house." Turning to face the principal, he continued, "Mister Kuno, be thankful that my cousin managed to fend off your attack. Had you succeeded," he paused and gestured to the younger Kuno and Nabiki. "I'm sure that your son or this young lady could tell you the consequences of a blood feud with a clan like ours."   
  
  
  
Nabiki winced.   
  
  
  
Tatewaki looked at his father, shaking his head in disgust.   
  
  
  
Ranma smiled when he entered the room, not having heard the previous part of the conversation. "So then guys, are we ready to leave?"   
  
  
  
"Er, one moment. Ranma, I need a word with you." Nabiki acted quickly to avoid the wrath of Ranma's family.   
  
  
  
"Ok Nabiki, where do want to talk? I want to get going."   
  
  
  
"Follow me." Moving away from prying eyes and nosy students, Nabiki lead Ranma into a janitorial closet.   
  
  
  
"What's this about?" Ranma asked impatiently.   
  
  
  
"It's about my past treatment of you, Ranma. I wanted to apologise to you."   
  
  
  
Ranma looked at Nabiki for a moment. "Why?"   
  
  
  
"I know that I haven't exactly given you plenty of reason to trust me, but I never lied to you. And since I'm probably never going to see you again, I wanted us to part on good terms."   
  
  
  
Ranma took a half step towards Nabiki. Looking in her eyes, he saw what he thought was sincerity. For once he read someone correctly. Not only that, it was _Nabiki Tendo_. "Ok Nabiki. I accept your apology."   
  
  
  
"Ranma!" Nodoka called out. "It's time we left."   
  
  
  
"Ok mom" Ranma replied. "I guess this is good bye. Take care, Nabiki."   
  
  
  
Ranma left the broom cupboard and Nabiki to catch up with his mother.   
  
  
  
"So Ranma, are you ready to go?"   
  
  
  
"Yeah, let's go meet the folks." Ranma answered with a smile.   
  
  
  
Nabiki was left alone with her confused thoughts.   
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
"So Ranma, what did Nabiki want to talk to you about?" asked Kiyoharu.   
  
  
  
"She wanted to make sure we parted on good terms. Why?"   
  
  
  
"Well, your cousin and I had a bet going that she wanted to have a good bye kiss before you left."   
  
  
  
"Mom!" Ranma was blushing furiously.   
  
Kiyoharu smiled. "Don't worry Ranma, we're only teasing you. But if she wanted to make sure that you parted on good terms, then I'm almost afraid to ask what happened during your stay in Nerima."   
  
  
  
Ranma was quiet for a minute. "Some of her actions were necessary to keep a roof over her family's head, please don't do anything to hurt them."   
  
  
  
"Alright Ranma. Because you asked, I'll let it go. I doubt that they'll do anything to hurt you now that they know who your family is." Kiyoharu smiled, "there's always a bigger fish."   
  
  
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
Soun Tendo was looking at Ryoga Hibiki, trying to gauge his skill level in a sparring match against his old friend and training partner, Genma Saotome.   
  
  
  
Genma had the speed advantage, despite being older and heavier and was leading Ryoga around the Tendo yard.   
  
  
  
Ryoga seemed to be having fun for once as he managed to tag Genma several times in the match. The taunts were still coming, of course, but Ryoga took these in his stride as criticism from a master of Anything Goes rather then a snot nosed punk his age.   
  
  
  
"Break!" Soun called out wanting to confer with Saotome.   
  
  
  
"What do you think Genma?"   
  
  
  
"He's not bad," Genma spoke around his deep breaths. "He needs to be quicker if he wants to master our style, though."   
  
  
  
"Agreed. I think that if we can put him through a crash course in Anything Goes, he'll be enough to secure the dojo's future."   
  
  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Ryoga.   
  
  
  
"We want you to be the heir to the Saotome school of Anything Goes. You'll marry the heir to the Tendo school and teach at the dojo. That is if you accept our offer." Soun mentioned in an off-handed manner.   
  
  
  
"I accept your offer." Ryoga jumped on the Tendo patriarch and shook his hand so vigorously that he nearly dislocated the man's arm.   
  
  
  
"Ok, son." Soun winced. Rubbing his shoulder, he turned to Genma and smiled, "now how about we tell Akane the good news."   
  
  
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
Nabiki looked out of her window at the scene unfolding below her.   
  
  
  
"I hope that Akane is happy with her new fiancée," she said to no-one in particular. She frowned as she recalled the message her assistant relayed to her from yesterday; Akane was seen asking Ryoga out on a date. "Well, I guess that we were wrong about Akane having feelings for Ranma. But hey, at least he won't antagonise her as much, so the repair bills should be lower."   
  
  
  
Sighing to herself, she thought about how her family was going to put food on the table without Ranma's "help".   
  
  
  
'Maybe I should sell Ryoga some advice on how to deal with Kuno-chan?'   
  
  
  
  
  
*****************   
  
  
  
Akane smiled at her new fiancé as they walked together to school.   
  
  
  
'Kuno better not try something today. I won't have him destroy my happiness now that I've found some.'   
  
  
  
"Something up Ryoga?"   
  
  
  
"Just wondering what would Kuno will say when he finds out that we're engaged. That's all, Akane."   
  
  
  
  
  
Kuno stood at the gates and glared at Ryoga. "So this is the lowborn cur that claims to be the fiancé of the fierce tigress, Akane Tendo. Mark my words, Hibiki, I shall free her from your clutches!"   
  
  
  
Ryoga appraised Kuno's stance and determined that he wasn't as good as he claimed he was. "Lunch time, Kuno. We shall settle this once and for then. You defeat me, then I will dissolve the engagement from my end and Akane will be free to date whomever she wants. I defeat you, and you leave us alone. Is that acceptable to you?"   
  
  
  
Kuno thought for a moment. "Yes, at lunch time on the field we shall have our duel." Turning on his heel, he stalked off to his class.   
  
  
  
  
  
*****************  
  
To be continued.  
  
Thanks go out to Chi Vayne as my pre-reader.  
  
Next time on Project Mile Two some of the following may or may not occur:-  
  
Ranma meets the TA company?  
  
Property damage?  
  
A Tendo finally gets a legitimate job?  
  
Other stuff? 


	8. Meeting the family

Project Mile Two  
  
Chapter 7  
  
****************************  
  
Yushiro moved slowly around the large garden, enjoying the fresh air when his mother called out to him that visitors were coming.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
"Your cousin Nodoka and her son, Ranma," she replied.  
  
"Who is Ranma?"  
  
"I think it would be proper to introduce him as your cousin. He is about your age, I think that you would have a few things in common with him. Ask your brother Kiyoharu for more details." Yukino replied coldly.  
  
"Oh," was Yushiro's reply.  
  
"Yushiro!" Came a reply   
  
"Nodoka? Is that you?"  
  
"Yes, Yushiro it is. I hear you've had some excitement recently. Care to tell me about it?"  
  
"But of course, Nodoka. Would you care for some tea?"  
  
Nodoka and Yushiro went off to discuss the recent events, leaving Yukino Gowa to her own devices.  
  
Ranma had been intercepted by Kiyotsugu and Misuzu. His cousins were giving him a tour of the grounds.  
  
****************************  
  
Meanwhile at Furinken, Ryoga was being lead by the hand to field for his duel with Kuno.  
  
"Sorry about this, Akane. I just want to get Kuno off our backs for good."  
  
"I know how you feel, Ryoga. I have this nagging feeling that Kuno won't give up just yet, though."  
  
The pair made their way to the field to see Kuno surrounded by a crowd of witnesses.  
  
"So the wanderer finally arrives. Are you ready Hibiki?"  
  
"I am, Kuno. What are the terms of this duel?"  
  
"I win and you will free Akane. I have not fought long and hard just to lose her to someone else after seeing off Saotome."  
  
"Er, Kuno? Ranma's a Gowa now, remember?" Nabiki helpfully reminded her classmate.  
  
"I saw off Saotome. I have no quarrel with the Gowa clan, Nabiki Tendo." Kuno managed to sound even more pompous and self-important.  
  
"And if I win," Ryoga spoke in a loud voice, "you will leave Akane and me alone. Win by either knock our or submission. That should free up your time to chase after the pig-tailed girl." Ryoga finished with a smirk.  
  
"Agreed. The terms are set and approved."   
  
Nabiki moved into the centre of the circle. "Are you ready?" she asked both fighters.  
  
"I am, Nabiki Tendo," was Kuno's reply.  
  
"Yeah, ready willing and able."  
  
"Begin!"  
  
****************************  
  
Back at the Amazon village, Cologne was updating the rest of the council on the Ranma situation.  
  
"{We really should have realised that something was up when this Ranma first arrived with the Jusenkyo guide}" Jiyang, one of the younger elders commented. "{But hindsight is 20/20. You say that he was exceptionally skilled?}"  
  
"{Yes, he soaks up techniques like a sponge, it's remarkable. Unfortunately, his upbringing has left him rude, egotistical, and arrogant. I could go on. I doubt he would have lived in peace here. Plus there's the Neko-ken.}"  
  
"{Neko-ken?}"  
  
"{But Shampoo's Jusenkyo curse...}"  
  
"{Yes. I only found out about that after I used the full body cat's tongue point on the boy. It was a foolish attempt on my part to control him, I can see that now. I'm surprised that he's still alive after all his father put him through.}"  
  
"{What can you tell us? Aside from the Neko-ken.}"  
  
"{Well, he's been sold off for food numerous times. Despite his father's influence, he has a strong sense of honour, one of the strongest I've seen. Has people screaming death threats at him for slights both real and imagined, like the Hibiki boy. I'll tell you all a bit about him. He's strong, very strong but his fighting technique is slow and a bit sloppy compared to Ranma's. He has the worst sense of direction I have ever seen. He followed Ranma to Jusenkyo because Ranma left after waiting for THREE days for Ryoga to arrive. He got knocking into the spring of drowned piglet, and I believe that he uses his curse to sleep in the bed of Ranma's fiancée.}"  
  
"{Not exactly the most honourable of people is he? What about the father?}"  
  
"{When it comes to honour, he's even worse. As I motioned earlier, he sold Ranma off many times, often engaging him for food or to pay off his bar tab. But I will say this for that fat fool, he was an effective teacher.}"  
  
"{Why did you release Ranma from the Kiss of marriage and Kiss of death?}"  
  
"{Do you remember that bundle I brought with me? What contains the beast that was preying on Amazons outside of the village. He attacked Shampoo, Ranma defended her honour and was seriously injured in the process. Part of it was in thanks for saving my great-granddaughter. The other part of it was because of the injuries he suffered. As you are all well aware, the purpose of the kiss of marriage is to bring strong fighters into the tribe. They had to remove a lung and a kidney from Ranma, so he isn't exactly the strongest of fighters any more.}"  
  
"{So you thought that he would be a liability rather then an asset? I would have done the same in your position, Cologne. I am happy with your judgment, you probably taught this Ranma a few special techniques, but I doubt he'll be in the condition to pass them on to anybody. I think we're done here. Anybody have anything else to add?}" The chair of the hearing was anxious to leave, as she had other plans.  
  
As nobody raised any more points, the meeting was adjourned.  
  
****************************  
  
The duel for the hand of Akane Tendo was a quick one from the perspective of Ryoga.  
  
Sure Kuno was faster then him, but compared to Ranma, he was a weak, pathetic fool.   
  
"Are you alright, Ryoga?" Akane was concerned for her fiancé.  
  
"I'm fine, Akane. He was nothing compared to some of the challenges I've faced." Ryoga finished with a smirk.  
  
"Well, I hope that Kuno will leave you two alone now." Nabiki walked up to her sister and future brother-in-law. "But for some reason I doubt that this will be the case. Ryoga, will you help me bring him to the nurse's office?"  
  
"Why should I?" Ryoga asked indignantly.  
  
"Yeah, Nabiki. Why should he?" Akane backed up her fiancé.  
  
"Because it would show that you're a gracious winner, something that Kuno here would appreciate. It would also go some way to smooth things over with this idiot." Nabiki answered in an exasperated fashion. 'Are these two complete retards? Ranma and Ryoga I can understand, but Akane? She still thinks the world revolves around her.' Nabiki cut her less then flattering thoughts off there, just in case she blurted something out that she would regret later.  
  
****************************  
  
"So Ranma, what do you think of the house?" asked Misuzu.  
  
"It's really nice," Ranma commented, awe evident in his voice.  
  
Kiyotsugu smiled, "Ranma, how about something to eat? You've got to keep your strength up."  
  
"Yeah, sure. Lead the way."  
  
****************************  
  
Nabiki was sitting in her class, thinking about Kuno's beating at the hands of Ryoga.  
  
Ryoga had not dodged all of the strikes from Kuno's rapid attack, as he was too slow. But when he managed to connect with Kuno, the kendoist was sufficiently stunned to allow him to finish the duel with a charging right hook.  
  
Kuno landed a good 10 metres away.  
  
Kuno had finally returned to class, grumbling and rubbing his sore jaw line.  
  
"So Kuno-chan, are you going to abide by your agreement with Ryoga?"  
  
"I feel that I must, as he did not use any foul magic to avoid my attacks. I lost fairly. I trust that he will treat you sister well." Kuno was subdued.  
  
The class was starting to panic. Kuno admitting defeat was considered a sign of the apocalypse. Along with Nabiki not treating everybody with contempt and Akane's cooking not putting people in the hospital.  
  
'Wait a minute, Nabiki had started to treat Ranma better.' One of Nabiki's classmates was starting to panic.  
  
But before she could shout out that the end of the world was nigh, the bell rang.  
  
Thankfully, Akane did not have Home Ec that day, thus delaying the mass panic associated with the end of the world.  
  
****************************  
  
"Ranma, what do you think to the idea of becoming a test pilot for TA program?"   
  
"I don't know about that, Kiyotsugu," Misuzu answered for her cousin. "I mean, he just got out of the hospital, and you know how much strain they put Yushiro through."  
  
Ranma was quiet for a moment, "I'd like to make that choice for myself, Misuzu. All my life, people have been makin' my decisions for me. Now since I ain't got anything else to loose, I'd like to give it a go."  
  
Kiyotsugu smiled, "Ranma would you like to give the simulator a go?"  
  
"Sure, I ain't got anything better to do," Ranma stood up, his desire to try something new evident.  
  
****************************  
  
Nabiki walked to her next lesson, keeping a close eye on Kuno. A pair of students had pressed some banknotes into her hand, asking her to keep Kuno away from them "should he go nuts."  
  
Kuno was about to complain of a dizzy spell, when he showed the other occupants of the hallway what he had for lunch.  
  
"Eww!"  
  
"Gross!"  
  
"You're on your own, Kuno-chan."  
  
Kuno could be heard, in-between retching his guts up, to curse that foul sorcerer, Hibiki.   
  
****************************  
  
Nodoka was a little unhappy about hearing some of the things Yushiro had gone through. In fact, she was tempted to deny her cousin's application to for Ranma to join the TA test program to pilot the "Battling Seizure Robots".  
  
Yushiro was now free to spend his time whatever he wanted, and like Ranma, he was unsure of what to do with himself.  
  
'Though it would be nice to spend some time with Miharu,' he thought to himself, smiling.  
  
Nodoka noticed this change in Yushiro's posture, "so Yushiro, who's the lucky girl? Anybody I know?"  
  
"No, she's a foreign TA pilot. I know what you think about proper relationships, but I like her and we've shared many similar experiences."  
  
Nodoka scowled at first, the relaxed as it occurred to her that it must really bother Yukino that her son was in love with a gaijin. "I take it your mother does not approve?"  
  
"Not really, but our family never really approved of Genma. How is he anyway? I noticed you came only with Ranma."  
  
"I'm divorcing Genma, I'm really glad I did as father asked and kept Genma out of the loop on our family's status."  
  
"Why?" Yushiro asked, sipping from his teacup.   
  
"Because he engaged Ranma several times to feed his belly. Once to another boy."  
  
"How the bloody hell did he manage to do that? Ranma looked male from the glance I got earlier."  
  
"Ranma has a condition, he turns into a girl when he's splashed with cold water. Genma has a similar problem; he turns into a panda."  
  
Yushiro was silent for a moment, he placed his teacup on the table. "No-chan, can I ask a favour?"  
  
"What's that Yushiro?"  
  
"Let me help you with your revenge. I have friends in the military, we can dispose of any remains for you."  
  
Nodoka looked shocked for a moment before Yushiro added: "somehow, I doubt you'll leave enough for a corpse."  
  
Nodoka broke out into a smile. Then she laughed.  
  
****************************  
  
To be continued.  
  
Thanks go out to Chi Vayne as pre-reader.  
  
Like it? Love it? Loathe it? Let me know in your usual fashion.  
  
None of what I said might happen, happened so here's some omake to make up for it.  
  
****************************  
  
OMAKE  
  
****************************  
  
Yushiro and Nodoka were sitting and drinking tea, when Yushiro asked something that had been bothering him for some time.  
  
"No-chan, how come today's the first time I ever heard about the existence of your son? It seems, well, strange."  
  
"Yes, I know what you mean. I can't think why I never mentioned that before. A bad case of Deus Ex Machina, don't you think?"  
  
"Yes, did something happen between you and my mother? She doesn't seem to like you much."  
  
"It's probably because so looks so much older then I do, she's only five years older then me. That and people portray me as a loving mother sometimes, if one with some strange ideas of manliness. She gets written as someone who'd have to warm up to be an ice sculpture."  
  
"Shocking, well I don't know why we're still here. It's not like we get paid for this fourth wall destruction."  
  
"You're right, I think it's time we blow this fascist popsicle stand."  
  
"Agreed. To the pub! Let's get ginned to the gills!"  
  
**************************** 


	9. So that's what happened to Ucchan

Project Mile Two  
  
Chapter 8  
  
"So that's what happened to Ucchan"  
  
By Lord Raa  
  
*********************  
  
Nabiki walked towards Furinken High, calculating just how long it was before she was forced to start manipulating her sister's fiancé just to keep everyone at the dojo fed. 'Let's see, Ryoga admittedly eats less than Ranma, but I can't sell the cheesecake photos of him to Kuno and the other perverts around here. However, him giving Kuno that concussion was unexpected, I think we may have to have a bet on how badly Kuno-baby gets injured in the fights.'  
  
"Hey, Nabiki!" Ukyo called out.  
  
"Oh, hey Ucchan. Did you manage to sort out everything with your family?"  
  
"Yeah, that's why I'm here in this hideous dress. At least it's only for the next few days, anyway."  
  
"You're leaving Nerima, eh? Where you off to?"   
  
Moving closer to Nabiki, she continued as if it were some secret. "I'm moving away to Gowa city."  
  
"Oh, still after Ranma? What about his mother, what does she have to say about you chasing after her manly son," Nabiki managed to sound just like Nodoka.  
  
This caused Ukyo to giggle. "It's hard to let 10 years go to waste, y'know. I talked with him and his mom and we think that with his new job and the move, he's gonna need his best friend."  
  
"New job?" Nabiki wondered out loud.  
  
"Yeah," Ukyo confirmed absently. Or that is what it seemed to the witnesses. "He's working with his family at Gowa Instruments, he couldn't go into details, but I think he might be working with the Robots that were in the news a while back."   
  
Nabiki filed that little bit of information away for later as she made her way into the main building.  
  
"Besides, I seem to remember you mentioning that if your chance with Ranma came up, you'd take it," Ukyo teased. "So, are you gonna tell Ranchan that you like him?"  
  
"I-I don't know," Nabiki admitted. "I don't see him anymore, I guess I'll have to make the trip to his mother's."  
  
"If you don't tell him, he'll never know he you feel. Do you have feelings for Ranchan?"  
  
Nabiki was left to ponder that as they parted ways at the school.  
  
*********************  
  
Ranma exited the TA simulator drenched in sweat with a look on his face that said "I feel like I've just been 10 rounds with the old freak and Taro's cursed form."  
  
"So Ranma, what do you think about what your cousin has in store for you?" Nodoka asked.  
  
"I..(Gasp) I think... (wheeze) I like it (Pant)," Ranma managed, much to his mother's consternation.  
  
"I think we'll wait for the doctor's report before we sign you up, son."  
  
"Yes, I have to agree with your mother, Ranma," said Kiyoharu.  
  
"Yes, well that aside, I think Ranma's a natural." Kiyotsugu spoke looking up from the computer screen. "Ranma, when you've had a chance to rest, we'll get the doctor look at you." He motioned for his lead researcher so speak with him.   
  
*********************  
  
Ranma stood in an examination room as he waited for the doctor's report.  
  
"Ranma, aside from your diminished lung capacity and renal efficiency, I would say that you're in excellent health. When did you say you were operated on?"  
  
"'Bout a week ago, why?"  
  
"Because the healing of the scars in fantastic. Can I see this 'cursed form' of yours?"  
  
Ranma nodded. Walking of to the sink, he prepared a glass of cold water.  
  
"Get ready doc," he advised. Upending the container, he transformed in the busty red-haired girl that went by the name of Ranko.  
  
"Fascinating. Does it hurt at all?"  
  
"Not really, it kinda tingles. It's happened so often, sometimes I hardly notice when I change."  
  
*********************  
  
At the same time Ranma was being examined.  
  
"So, what's your opinion on my cousin?"  
  
"I think he can greatly aid the project. You've got a certain look in your eye, what are you planning?"  
  
Kiyotsugu glanced around for eavesdroppers and leaned in to whisper something.  
  
The researcher had a look of shock on his face which was quickly replaced by a smile. "That's highly unlikely, but then so is his cold water condition. Are you going to tell him?"  
  
"Not yet, I want to run a few calculations through the computers first, but it could be as soon as tomorrow."  
  
*********************  
  
The next day Kiyotsugu invited his cousin into his office, "Ranma, I have some good news and bad."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Bad news is we are going to experiment on you today. Good news is that, well, we might be able to help out with you lung and kidney situation."  
  
Ranma's face brightened, then he frowned. "Wait, you said 'might'?"  
  
"That's the bad news. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what's going to happen." Looking into his cousin's blue eyes, he asked, "Do you want to go through with this, Ranma. It may be that nothing happens, or you could die. I just want you to know what the risks are."  
  
"You can die crossin' the street. I'm in."  
  
Kiyotsugu smiled. "Right this way, Ranma. By the way, you can't tell your mother about this, it'll be our secret..."  
  
*********************  
  
In the early evening, Ranma was napping at his mother's house after a long day of 'simulator trials and examinations'. Well that was what Kiyotsugu had told Nodoka.  
  
The truth of the matter was something quite different, and, if Nodoka had known about it, she would have had words with her cousin. Words like "does this hurt?" and "how about now?"  
  
Because Ranma's body had produced chemical compounds like the infamous compound 'D' and others that were similar in nature to the Kugai's core and the TA's artificial muscle structure, the research team had come to the conclusion that Ranma was an extremely powerful Kai. To test a theory, Kiyotsugu had injected material from the still regenerating Kugai into Ranma. Also he was curious to see what effect, if any, it would have on the Jusenkyo curse.  
  
But back to the scene at hand: Ranma, having been fed by his mother earlier, was napping when his best friend arrived with some pastries.   
  
"Hi, Auntie Nodoka. Is Ranchan in?" Ukyo had been visited Ranma a few times since his move away from Nerima. She still had hopes of being more then friends, but at least she could take it slowly now, rather then ram it down his throat for fear of him being dragged off elsewhere.  
  
"He's asleep at the moment, Ukyo-chan. But I suppose that my manly son could stand to have a pretty girl in his room right now. He's been oddly hungry today, so he might appreciate that gift in your hands." Nodoka smiled. 'I'm glad Ukyo was able to sort out her problem with her family.'  
  
Ukyo had also been able to dress as her true gender, having discussed the engagement debacle with her family. On this occasion, she was wearing snug fitting jeans with a tight red sweater. Not even the clueless Ranma could mistake her for being a boy today.   
  
Knocking on the door, she asked if he was awake. Not getting a response, she entered ready to avert her gaze, should Ranma had been dressing. Honest. Well that's what she told herself anyway.  
  
"Ranchan?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Ranchan?" A little louder this time.  
  
Still no response, so she moved in to get his attention, "Ranchan?"  
  
Finally getting a little fed up, Ucchan started to shake Ranma awake, when he rolled over with a smile mumbling "Ucchan."  
  
Ukyo beamed widely. Moving in to get a better idea what Ranma was mumbling about, she was taken aback by his sudden movement back onto his side. This caused her to get entangled up in his arms and held against his body.  
  
Nodoka took this opportunity to ask if anyone wanted refreshments when she noticed the teenagers' positions. Smiling to herself, she backed away apologizing.  
  
"No, it's not what it looks like!" Ukyo protested loudly.  
  
Ranma stirred. Opening his eyes he took in a pleasant, if highly surprising view of Ukyo in his arms. Looking around, he failed to see his mother observing the whole scene from the hallway.  
  
He blinked. 'Hey, it's Ucchan.' Ranma blinked again. 'She's in my bed. I'm touching her.' "Aagh!" he quickly separated from his friend. Backing away, he cowered to protect himself from the expected attack.  
  
He sat there for a minute. Then it occurred to him that he wasn't going to be punished.  
  
"What's wrong, Ranchan?"  
  
"Y-you're not gonna hit me for being a pervert?" Ranma eventually asked.  
  
Nodoka frowned from the sidelines.  
  
"Wha? When were you being perverted?"  
  
"You know, when I was touching you," Ranma filled in the details.  
  
Ukyo shook her head. "Ranchan, you weren't being perverted or anything. If anything, I was wrong to sneak up on you while you were sleeping."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes Ranchan. I am quite sure that you are not a pervert."  
  
A knock at the door distracted Nodoka long enough for Ranma to breathe a sigh of relief.  
  
"Hello auntie Nodoka. Is Ranma in?"  
  
Nodoka was taken aback by the appearance of Nabiki Tendo. Then something occurred to her. "Yes, do come in. I would like to talk with you and Ukyo."  
  
'Uh-oh, what has he done now?' Nabiki asked silently.  
  
*********************  
  
In the living room, Nodoka looked at Ranma's friends intently. "Well?"  
  
"Well what, auntie Nodoka?"  
  
Nodoka frowned. "Why did Ranma expect a beating when he found Ukyo in his arms?"  
  
Nabiki raised a questioning eyebrow at Ukyo at this bit of information.  
  
"It's what normally happens. Whenever a girl gets near him, someone shows up screaming that he's being perverted or something." Nabiki replied honestly.  
  
Ukyo winced then nodded when Nodoka looked to her for conformation.  
  
"I'm afraid that all of us in Nerima had a part to play in that, auntie Nodoka," Nabiki was clearly ashamed.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, all of the suitors jumped to all sorts of conclusions. Since no-one argued Ranma's case, he must have assumed that it was his fault."  
  
Nodoka started to develop a twitch. "So my son is under the impression that if he gets close to a girl, he's being perverted and deserves to be attacked?"  
  
"Y-yes." Nabiki cowered.   
  
"And what are you going to do about it?" Nodoka asked in a disturbingly calm voice.  
  
Fortunately, Ranma came into the room looking for a cup of tea.  
  
"Hi Nabiki, what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Ranma asked cheerfully.  
  
"I just came to check up on a friend. What's this I hear about you hold Ucchan in your arms?"  
  
"Well I was sleepin' and she disturbed me, and I (sthnathrets)," Ranma mumbled, his face threatening to burst from the force if the blush.   
  
Ranma's mother correctly interpreted the rushed response as 'I started to have naughty thoughts about her'. "Those thoughts didn't include being hit did they son?" Nodoka was concerned her son was into S&M. Being dominated was not manly in her opinion.  
  
"WHAT? No mom, Ucchan was snuggling up to me." Ranma shouted defensively.  
  
As Ukyo smiled cutely, Nabiki looked envious. 'Damn, I'm going to have to work fast if I want Ranma.'  
  
"Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about a couple of things, Nabiki."  
  
"Oh?"  
  
"First of all, just as I left Nerima, you said that you'd never lied to me before. But when we were engaged, you told me that you had been in love with me for some time. Correct?"  
  
Nabiki squirmed in her sitting position. "Yes, I said those things."  
  
"Right, now are you or have you ever been in love with me? 'Cause if you haven't then I can't believe what you said about lyin' to me."  
  
'When did Ranchan start thinking like that,' Ukyo looked puzzled. 'So there's a brain behind that pretty face of his.'  
  
"Er," Nabiki started to flounder. 'Ranma never analysed words or behaviour before.'  
  
"He's got you there, Nabiki-chan. Either you were in love with my son or he can't trust anything you say anymore because you lied about not lying to him." Nodoka smirked behind a cup of tea.  
  
"Yes," Nabiki was being deliberately vague.  
  
"Care to elaborate, Nabiki?" Ukyo asked.  
  
"Yes, you replied in the affirmative to one of the conditions, but did not specify which one," Nodoka pointed out.  
  
Ranma smiled at the discomfort Nabiki was so obviously in. "Not nice is it Nabiki? Well, I'm sorry for doing that to you, but I had to know. How're things at the dojo?" Ranma changed the subject.  
  
"F-fine, why?" Nabiki was puzzled by Ranma's switching of topics.  
  
"It's just that I had a weird feeling that something's going to happen at your place."  
  
Ranma blinked hard.  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"Son?"  
  
"Ranchan?"  
  
Ranma started to sweat. Then he fell into Nabiki's lap, causing embarrassment, envy and concern.  
  
"I'll call for an ambulance."  
  
*********************  
  
Inside their mansion, the Kuno siblings were being surprisingly pleasant to each other.  
  
"Brother, where is my dearest Ranma-sama? I have not seen him for some time," Kodachi pouted  
  
"Little sister, I have some news about the object of your misguided affection."  
  
"Oh, please tell."  
  
"He is no longer Ranma Saotome."  
  
"What, have those filthy harlots done to him to cause him to become Ronin?" Kodachi started to seethe. "Is it his father?"  
  
"That's not it, you really should stop experimenting with those poisons, they're destroying your mind. No he is actually of somewhat noble birth."  
  
"Oh, I knew he was special, but what do you mean by 'somewhat'?"  
  
"It would appear that he is related to the Gowa clan. At least on his mother's side."  
  
"Gowa, eh?" Kodachi smiled, her insistence that Ranma was a noble warrior was being proven right. "I'll just have to speak with his mother about our relationship."  
  
"You do that, sister."  
  
*********************  
  
At the hospital Ranma was being fussed over some of the medical staff once it was clear he was in a stable condition.  
  
One was trying to get his shirt off while another brought in the ultra-sound scanner.  
  
"Now, now ladies, I need room to manoeuvre. Kindly step aside. Thank you." A doctor of stocky build entered the room to perform the scan.  
  
To describe his findings as a surprise would be a major understatement.  
  
He asked a pair of nurses to bring in another doctor and scanner just to be sure he wasn't hallucinating.  
  
A female doctor of around 30 confirmed the first doctor's findings.  
  
"Well doc? Am I gonna live?" Ranma asked worriedly. "Is there a problem with my chest?"  
  
"You could say that. But then again, if I wasn't familiar with your case, I'd say you were in perfect health."  
  
Ranma looked at the stocky doctor blankly.  
  
The lady doctor filled in the blanks for him. "You seem to have grown a lung and kidney. I want to do an endoscopic exam just to be sure."   
  
*********************  
  
Kiyotsugu Gowa made his way to the hospital cursing himself for his experimentation on Ranma.  
  
He got there just as his endoscopy was finishing up, "so then what's wrong with my cousin?"  
  
"Nothing, other then he regenerated two new internal organs in the space of a few days."  
  
"Oh?" 'So it worked, eh?'  
  
Nodoka walked back in with a drink of water for her son. Ranma took the drink, but his co-ordination was still off so he ended up spilling it over himself.  
  
"Ranma!" Nodoka chided. She started to mop up the water, when something occurred to her.  
  
The chest was still male.  
  
"Ranma - you're still male!"   
  
"Hey, I am. I'm cured!"  
  
Ranma's triumphant shouting drew attention from most of the floor, and the ire of the staff.  
  
"Sorry," Ranma and his mother apologised sincerely.  
  
Ukyo and Nabiki rushed in upon hearing their friend's jubilant cries.  
  
"Ranchan, are you really cured?"  
  
"I dunno, Ucchan. Can someone get some hot and cold water please?"  
  
10 minutes and several dozen applications of hot and cold water later, it had been determined that Ranma's Jusenkyo curse was gone.  
  
Nodoka motioned for Ukyo and Nabiki to go somewhere private for a "word or two."  
  
"So, it seems that my son is cured and in excellent health," Nodoka's desire for grandchildren was temporarily put on hold. "I want him to stay that way, so I think it would be best to keep his status a secret."  
  
Ukyo nodded, Nabiki brought up Kuno and that pigtailed girl. "What shall we tell him? If we say she's no more then he'll do something rash."  
  
"I think that if you tell him that she's fled his clutches and decided to become a shrine maiden in Hokkaido, he'll bother somebody else," Ukyo answered.  
  
"That should work, he saves face by thinking that he's freed his love from the 'foul sorcerer' and he might leave Akane alone to chase after 'Ranko'," Nabiki agreed.  
  
"But how this development affect how you feel about my son?" Nodoka demanded.   
  
"I love Ranchan because of who he is, not what he is," Ukyo insisted.  
  
Two pairs of eyes turned to Nabiki.  
  
Nabiki looked slightly panicked.  
  
"Well?"   
  
"Ranchan seems to think that you care about him. Do you?"  
  
"I guess that I do, but what do I do about it? He likes Ucchan better."  
  
Ukyo smiled at that. Nodoka smiled as a thought occurred to her. She was about to whisper her suggestion to Ukyo, when Ranma called out to them.  
  
"Yes Ranma?" Nabiki asked thankful that he'd saved her embarrassment for the time being. "What is it?"  
  
"I know what you're planning to tell Kuno, I just want you to know that I agree with you."  
  
"How did you ?" Ukyo asked trailing off.  
  
"I guessed that's what you were talking about. Please don't let any of them know that I'm 'better'. Nabiki, I er, please don't take this the wrong way, but you were in this strange dream I had."  
  
"Oh?" Nabiki teased.  
  
"It's not like that at all, I just wanted you to know that if you needed my help, you've got it."  
  
'My son was dreaming about two girls in the same day, how manly,' Nodoka was gushing praise to herself.  
  
"Ranchan, were you having naughty thoughts about Nabiki?" Ucchan teased.  
  
"No!" Ranma shouted. "At least I was doing anything naughty."  
  
Nabiki coloured slightly.  
  
"Oh? And what was I doing in this dream of yours?" Nabiki inquired.  
  
Ranma paused for a moment to think about his choice of words. "Nabiki needed a job to pay for something. It was big, something she couldn't do with the cash she could normally get together. She asked me for help and I agreed."  
  
Ranma noticed the looks Nabiki was getting and added a qualifier. "She was working for me. I think."  
  
"Yes, well I think that you should be getting some rest now son. We'll pick up you up in the morning.  
  
*********************  
  
About a week later, Yushiro was being chauffeured to a hot spring with Miharu in silence. But the young couple was just the quiet type. Miharu was leaning against Yushiro, when something strange caught the eye of the driver.  
  
"What the hell is that thing?" he asked pointing up at the sky.  
  
It looked like a flying minotaur carrying an octopus on its back whilst it clutched a cask-like object in its arms.  
  
Unfortunately this proved to be too much of a distraction for the driver, who was normally very good. They never had a chance in a T-bone collision with the petrol tanker.  
  
This was one thing that seriously upset Ranma. He and Yushiro had only just met recently and were becoming friends, when they were cruelly and permanently separated.  
  
When Ucchan found out during one of her visits, she consoled her former fiancé, much to the approval of Nodoka.  
  
'Even in a time of family tragedy, he's being manly. If only he was returning her affections more.'  
  
*********************  
  
In Nerima Happosai was doing his rounds when his danger sense flared.  
  
The roof-top he was bouncing across crumbled as a monster crash landed on to it.  
  
"So, Pantyhose, m'boy are you ready for more fun?"  
  
The monster growled and lunged at the aged pervert, who simply leapt away. Taro gave chase as Happosai lead him back to the Tendo dojo, planning on depositing his ill-gotten treasure and letting his students deal with the situation.  
  
Ryoga saw Taro approaching and prepared to deal with this monster, forgetting that neither him nor his fiancée were the targets.   
  
Taro landed in the Tendo yard, looking around for the residents, he gestured for some hot water.  
  
Moments later, Kasumi appeared with a kettle and a smile.  
  
Upon changing back to his human form, he stated his demand; that Happosai change his name.  
  
When Happosai refused, he mentioned his trump card.  
  
"If you don't then I'll just have to splash you with this water from the spring of drowned virtuous man."  
  
Happosai, naturally disliking that idea attempted to make his escape. However, Genma and Soun seeing a chance to be free of their master's perversions for at least some of the time, pulled out a photo of Ranma's cursed form to distract him.  
  
It did - for a moment, and it allowed Taro to grab hold of the shrunken troll.  
  
In the ensuing struggle, Happosai was splashed with the water leading to a good news bad news situation.  
  
The bad news was that is was water from a different spring than the one Taro thought. It was water from the spring of drowned twins. The good news was that only a bump on Happosai's head was doused and not the whole pervert.  
  
Seeing that his carefully thought out plan had failed, Taro splashed himself with his canteen and started his most therapeutic beating of the master of Anything Goes.  
  
Ryoga was standing next to Akane when his Jusenkyo curse was activated by the discarded canteen.  
  
Akane turned to her fiancé and saw P-chan surrounded by Ryoga's clothes. Then she saw the truth Ranma had been hinting at all this time.  
  
"Ryoga, you pervert!" she cried out and punted the black piglet into the air.   
  
Glowing red with rage she turned to her father and Mr Saotome. "Daddy, what was the big idea engaging me to that pervert? Why didn't you tell me Ryoga was P-chan?"  
  
"We thought you were ok with that, it was pretty obvious." Genma said with a tone of 'what are you, a complete dunce?'  
  
Akane turned her death-glare on her father's friend, who suddenly became just as spineless as her father.  
  
Splashing himself with a nearby bucket, he went into his "I'm just a cute li'l panda" act.  
  
"Daddy, I'm waiting for an explanation," Akane said in a calm voice, arms folded and foot tapping impatiently. "Why didn't you tell me that my fiancé was already sleeping in my bed?"  
  
"W-we thought that you knew and were ok with it. You held him to your chest as if nothing was wrong. Please don't hurt me," he finished cowering behind a certain panda.  
  
"Oh my," Kasumi exclaimed as Taro was thrown through a wall of the Tendo house and an adjacent dojo support.  
  
Nabiki, recently arriving downstairs, came to complain about the noise when she observed the damage. In an overly sweet voice that promised pain and suffering for the wrong answer asked, "Daddy, who's paying for these repairs? I can only do so much with what we have. Someone has to get a job to pay for the construction work."  
  
Soun started to panic.   
  
Genma played with an old tyre.  
  
Happosai fled, knowing that he was at least partly responsible for this incident.  
  
Akane looked at her sisters, "did either of you know that Ryoga was actually P-chan?"  
  
Kasumi shook her head while Nabiki mentioned that, "now it made sense why Ranma had a problem with your pet pig."  
  
The enormity of the revelations caused the youngest Tendo to fall to her knees sobbing. Kasumi went over to comfort her sister.  
  
Nabiki turned her eyes on Taro, who just snorted in a 'what are you looking at fashion.' "Go back to China. If I ever see you here again, I'll make sure your cursed form is studied at Tokyo University for the next decade."  
  
Taro shuddered involuntarily. Nodding his head in understanding, he flew off back home trying not to think of the nasty things that the researchers would do to him.  
  
"Right then daddy," Nabiki turned to the adults, "just WHO is going to pay for the damage? You know that Akane and I can't get a job with the school rules being what they are, and Kasumi has done more than enough for the household. That leaves you, Happosai or the panda. Who is it going to be?"  
  
"Nabiki, you should have more faith in your father," Soun's spine seemed to be forming itself again. "We'll just engage Akane to that nice Kuno boy."  
  
Akane looked at Soun, "I can't believe you are that stupid, daddy. I will never marry Kuno, he's even more perverted then Ryoga."  
  
Nabiki turned to Akane who looked to be on the verge of fresh tears. "Daddy, the least you and Saotome can do is help clean up this mess."  
  
"Saotome, Ranma knew about Ryoga's curse, right? So why didn't he tell anyone?" Soun asked his old friend ask they started the clean up operation.  
  
{The boy promised not to tell anyone.} Flip. {You know how he is about promises}.  
  
*********************  
  
To be continued.  
  
I would like to thank Chi Vayne for his input on various ideas.  
  
Like it?  
  
Love it?  
  
Loathe it?  
  
Let me know in your usual fashion. 


	10. Contractual Obligations

Project Mile Two  
  
By Lord Raa  
  
Chapter 9   
  
Contractual Obligations  
  
*********************  
  
Nabiki nearly wept when she saw the estimate for the repairs to the Tendo house and dojo.   
  
She needed to do something, but felt that the best she could do was call a meeting with rest of her family.  
  
"This is what it's going to cost to get the house fixed. We can't afford it. As I see it we have two options. One, somebody marries into a rich family."  
  
Soun looked towards Kasumi, hope shining in his eyes.  
  
Kasumi shook her head. "Kuno? He's well mannered, but I do think that something's missing upstairs with him."  
  
Nabiki glared at her father. "I want nothing more to do with the fool. There's more chance of you marrying Kodachi, daddy."   
  
Soun shuddered then held his face in his hands, sobbing gently.   
  
"I will not let you force Akane into another marriage." Nabiki was adamant. Continuing, "Option two, somebody gets a job."  
  
Her father's sobbing became bawling, everybody else in the room just looked downcast. Genma munched on some bamboo casting panicked glances across the room, having been turned into a panda by Soun's waterworks.   
  
The legendary 'Ice Queen of Furinken' looked at her family and realised just how much they took her and Kasumi for granted. 'I don't believe you lot. Hang on, Ranma said if I needed help, just to call him.' "I've got an idea. Dad do I have your permission to do what I need to save our family home?"  
  
Soun nodded, his weeping like a little girlie-man subsided for the moment.   
  
"Right then, I've got to make some arrangements. I'll be back later."   
  
"Thank you Nabiki," Kasumi, at least, acknowledged her efforts.  
  
Nabiki left the room to set up a meeting with Ranma's family.  
  
*********************  
  
When Ranma found out that Nabiki was in trouble, he insisted that his family help her and Kasumi.   
  
At the meeting Nabiki and Kasumi sat at the table opposite Nodoka, Ranma and Kiyoharu.  
  
After explaining the incident involving Taro and her family, Nabiki was desperate. "So you can see why we need help _now_."   
  
"Yes. So, has your father tried to engage any of you yet?" Kiyoharu asked not so innocently.  
  
Nabiki was nodded. "He tried to engage Akane to Kuno at first, we told him that there was more chance of him marrying Kodachi."  
  
Ranma shuddered. 'That's not nice.'  
  
"That sounds like something your father and Genma would try," Nodoka spoke honestly.  
  
"Well, the only other option I see to keep you family home is for someone to get a job," Kiyoharu commented. "What makes you think that we have one going for a 17 year old girl that's not even finished high school? Even if we did, it wouldn't pay enough for the repairs to your house."  
  
Nabiki looked downcast. Kasumi looked ready to weep. They had both put so much effort into keeping the house running over the years; now it looked like that would be in vain.  
  
After Kiyoharu conferred with his cousins, he spoke, "We have a suggestion. We will loan you the money to repair the house. Nabiki will pay the money back in the form of a garnished salary by working as a personal assistant."  
  
"To whom?" Nabiki had a feeling.  
  
"To Ranma," Kiyoharu confirmed. "He will be taking a more active role in the Group. But, I'm sure that you are well aware that when it comes to business deals, he's somewhat lacking in the wisdom department."  
  
Kasumi nodded. While Ranma was a nice young man, he lacked a certain understanding about the world outside of martial arts.  
  
Ranma looked at his family. "You didn't mention anything about this earlier."  
  
Nodoka noted the look on Ranma's face, "Yes, well son, we think that you need to experience the real world. Plus with the death of Yushiro, the future of the Gowa Group would be in better hands if you knew what you were doing."  
  
"What kind of role are we talking about here?" Nabiki was interested in this offer. It would save her family and get her a job working for one of the largest conglomerates in Japan.  
  
Kiyoharu smiled, 'That's good, she's interested'. "There is the usual secretarial aspect of organising appointments, making sure he's in the right place at the right time. Also we need you to coach him in the ways of the polite society and business etiquette."  
  
"What about my schooling? As you said, I've not finished high school yet, and neither has Ranma for that matter." Nabiki had wondered what they planned to do about Ranma's poor education.  
  
"You will attend Ranma's privately tutored sessions," Nodoka spoke up. "Part of your job is to look after Ranma."  
  
"What about the dojo?" Nabiki wondered out loud.  
  
"How many students were taught at the dojo in the last year, Nabiki?" Nodoka enquired.  
  
"Not counting Ranma and Akane."  
  
The Tendos looked down at their teacups.  
  
"That many?" Kiyoharu sarcasm was painful. Taking a more reasonable tone, he spoke again, "I don't see why you should put yourself into greater debt over it. But for argument's sake, let's say that we rebuild the dojo. Who's going to teach there?"  
  
Nabiki realised that they if they were relying on their father to save them, they were going to lose everything.  
  
"If your father wants the dojo, he will have to work for it," Kiyoharu decided. It was his opinion that, even if it were just an illusion, having options was always good.  
  
"Do we have an agreement?" Nodoka was anxious to allow Ranma the chance to get to know Nabiki better. And by better, she meant in the most intimate way possible. 'Nabiki would be good for him.'  
  
Nabiki and Kasumi conferred for a moment. "We'll need to go over the terms of the contract with our father. Can you give us a couple of days?"  
  
"Yes, you know how to contact us. We'll courier over a copy for you to look at tomorrow. Unless there is something else that you wanted to discuss?" Kiyoharu drank from his teacup. Seeing a negative response from the Tendos, he bid them farewell.  
  
*********************  
  
The Tendo sisters made their way home. Or to what was left of it.  
  
"Well Nabiki, what do you think father will do?"   
  
"To tell you the truth; I don't know, Kasumi. I hope he will agree to the terms but Ranma's family is right about the dojo."  
  
*********************  
  
After Ranma had left to practice a few kata, Kiyoharu turned to Nodoka, "Nabiki seems to be the sort that is honest if it pays them to be. If you think that the she would make a good match for your son, then I would let them fall in love; it would do Ranma good not to be forced into something."  
  
Nodoka agreed with her cousin. "How do we deal with Genma? I want to make sure that he suffers for his crimes against Ranma."  
  
"Kiyotsugu mentioned that he thought the Jusenkyo curse were interesting," Kiyoharu smiled. "Scientifically speaking, that is. I think that Genma could prove useful in its investigation."  
  
Realisation washed over Nodoka's face. "Do you think that Kiyotsugu will need to perform all sorts of tests, you know the ones with really big needles?"  
  
Her cousin was about to reply when his phone rang. "Kiyotsugu, what is it?"  
  
*I looked at some of the results from the most recent set of tests we did on Ranma. I think that it would be wise for Ranma get regular check ups.*  
  
"What for?"  
  
*Because he regenerated certain tissues in his body, I'm concerned that he might be at greater risk of developing cancer.*  
  
"Right, I'll tell his mother. She wants to know Do you want to experiment on Genma?   
  
*What do you mean? *  
  
"You know his curse?"  
  
*For what he did to Ranma? I have certain 'tests' I want to perform.*  
  
"I'll let her know about Ranma. Talk to you later."  
  
*Bye.*  
  
"My brother says that he has news about Ranma." Taking a deep breath, Kiyoharu chose his words carefully. "Ranma might be more susceptible to cancer."  
  
Nodoka looked scared.  
  
"But we can't be sure. That's why he thinks Ranma should have regular check ups." Kiyoharu left to draw up terms for the contract.  
  
*********************  
  
Nabiki called another meeting with her family.  
  
"Right then, I have negotiated a deal to save our house."  
  
Soun face brightened.  
  
Akane looked at her sister, "with who? Not Kuno I hope!"  
  
"No," Kasumi answered. "We managed to find help from an acquaintance of Auntie Nodoka's."  
  
'Well, I guess that's one way of putting it,' Nabiki thought. "Yes, a courier's bringing the contract round tomorrow. We will have two days at the most to decide whether or not to accept the terms."  
  
Soun looked at his daughter, "what about the dojo?"  
  
"I did what I could, but they wanted too much to re-build it," Nabiki replied. "But if you are willing to help out with the repayment, then we can save it."  
  
Soun thought about the idea. "Who are we dealing with?"  
  
"The Gowa group."  
  
'There goes the idea of running out on that debt,' Soun thought to himself. "Well, we shall see what their conditions for this loan are."  
  
*********************  
  
At the Gowa house, Ranma was outside jumping around like a caffeinated grasshopper, punching and kick at invisible enemies.  
  
As he landing gently, something moved, catching his eye.  
  
"Meow!"  
  
"Arrgh!" Ranma backed away from the cat.  
  
"Meow?" the tortoise shell cat moved in closer.  
  
"Back off kitty," Ranma was starting to panic.  
  
The cat sniffed.  
  
Sweat poured of Ranma's face.  
  
The cat took a step forward, "Meow?"  
  
"Arrgh!"  
  
Ranma's voice changed pitch.  
  
"What's happening? Help!" Ranma-chan started running to the house looking for hot water or anything to change him back.  
  
Nodoka ran towards her son, "Ranma what happened to you?"  
  
"I-I dunno. I was practicing and something scar- er surprised me and I changed into a girl."   
  
Nodoka saw that Ranma was scared about something and needed calming down. "Ranma, come with me inside. We need find out what happened to change you."  
  
Leading her child inside, Nodoka motioned for some one to run a bath. "Ranma we're going to try something, let me get some hot water."  
  
"Ok, mom." Ranma managed after taking a few breaths.  
  
Pouring the hot water, Nodoka asked, "how much water did it take to change you?"  
  
"A-about a cup, I think." Ranma-chan answered. She started to panic again after the water rolled off her head. "Mom I'm still a girl!"  
  
Nodoka frowned, 'that's odd. I thought he was cured.' "I know Ranma, maybe we need to submerge you in hot water. Let's get you in the bath."  
  
*********************  
  
Kiyotsugu answered his mobile phone, "what's up?"  
  
*Ranma has changed into a girl and we can't change him back.*  
  
"I'll be there shortly," he hung up. "This is not good. Hajime, I'm going home. There's been an emergency."  
  
"Ok boss, I'll see you later."  
  
Arriving at the Gowa house, Kiyotsugu was greeted by a panicked Nodoka.  
  
"Tell me what happened, No-chan."  
  
"Well, I heard a scream in the garden. Rushing to investigate, I saw Ranma in his cursed form. We poured hot water on him but he stayed female."  
  
"Then what?"   
  
"I told Ranma to take a bath, I called you whilst he got ready."  
  
"Right," Kiyotsugu decided to look at Ranma himself.   
  
Knocking on the bathroom door, he asked, "Ranma is everything alright in there?"  
  
"Yes," came the muffled reply.  
  
"Can I come in?"  
  
"Just let me but something on."  
  
Kiyotsugu waited a minute and opened the door. He was greeted by the sight of Ranma-chan looking more relaxed and clean.  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"I'm feelin' better now I had a bath, but I want to know about the change or why I ain't changed back."   
  
"Relax, Ranma. I want to help you."  
  
Ranma took a few deep, cleansing breaths.  
  
"Better?"  
  
She nodded, having allowed the last of the tension to drain.  
  
Suddenly she grew in height.  
  
"What?"  
  
Kiyotsugu looked on in interest. "I have an idea why hot water didn't change you, Ranma."  
  
Ranma looked on expectantly.  
  
"I think that stress might bring on the change." He stepped closer to his cousin. "I heard that something surprised you, so you changed into your girl side. You couldn't change back with hot water;, that caused you more anxiety. But the hot bath relaxed you so you changed back."  
  
"So I changed when I get stressed?"  
  
Kiyotsugu nodded. "That might prove to be a problem with the TA program."  
  
"No, it's what I want to do," Ranma insisted.  
  
"Well, we'll see. I don't want you hurt."  
  
*********************  
  
The next morning a courier arrived with the contract for the Tendo's approval.  
  
Nabiki read out the major points. "1, Nabiki Tendo will repay the loan in the form of a garnished salary working for the Gowa group. She will be required to be on site for most of the time, and as such will be transferred from Furinken and be privately tutored. Room and board will be provided as part of her job. 2, Should she, or any Tendo be found guilty of any criminal activity against the Gowa Group, the Gowa Group will foreclose on the loan and seize control of any and all Tendo property. 3, Genma Saotome and Happosai will no longer be allowed to live in the Tendo residence. 4, Should any of these conditions be broken, the loan will be foreclosed."  
  
Soun looked at his daughters. "Well," he voice was weak, "what do you think? Should we do accept?"  
  
Akane nodded.  
  
"Yes father," Kasumi agreed.  
  
"What about you, Nabiki? You seem to be the lynch-pin for this whole deal." His voice was more confident. The house could still be saved.  
  
Nabiki looked at her family. She would be leaving them for now, but she would visit them again. It was what she wanted; a foot in the door of a major corporation, but she would just be a personal assistant to Ranma. She would have a chance with Ranma, but would he be interested in her? If she married Ranma, surely her his family would cancel the debt as a wedding present, but no doubt they would have a pre-nuptial agreement in the event of a divorce. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.  
  
"I'm in. I'll sign the contract. Daddy, we've saved the house."  
  
Soun started to weep with joy. He was about to open a bottle of sake to celebrate, when Genma spoke up.   
  
"But what about me?"  
  
"Do you want to know why the Gowas don't want you to stay here?"  
  
"Yes," Genma still was under the impression that he'd done no wrong.  
  
Nabiki thought that it was now time to reveal the identity of her benefactor. "What's Auntie Nodoka's maiden name?"  
  
"I can't remember," Genma looked at Nabiki quizzically. 'What is she planning?'  
  
"It's Gowa."  
  
The room fell silent.  
  
"Gowa?"  
  
"Yes, and now it seems that Ranma is heir to part of the Gowa group. Your son, the young man you threw out because he couldn't take over the dojo after he was injured saving Shampoo. The person you sold off numerous times, including his cursed form," she reveled in Genma's discomfort. "That same person you abused for ten years is the only thing that is going to save our house. So you can see why they don't want you to have a roof over your head."  
  
"Well daddy, it's your family of your 'friend'. Who are you going to save?" Akane asked.  
  
Soun looked at his middle daughter, "What did they say about the dojo, Nabiki?"  
  
"If you want it, then you will have to work for it. That I should not put myself in further debt because of it."  
  
Soun considered that argument. The dojo had been his dream, but who would teach now? He was out of practice; Akane was not up to scratch. Ranma was the hope, but why should he teach at their dojo after the way he was treated? He sighed. "It seems that it's time to move on with our lives. I will sign the contract."  
  
Genma looked at his friend, "Soun, but what about the pledge to unite the schools?"  
  
Kasumi looked at the overweight martial artist. "But Mr Saotome, what about Ukyo Kuonji? Or that young man who visited a few weeks ago? Or any number of the fiancées you arranged for Ranma?"  
  
Genma was speechless.  
  
Nabiki smiled at her sister's questions. "Yes, it seems that the pledge has been broken several times. I don't think that we would lose face over not fulfilling it."  
  
*********************  
  
Ryoga wandered; it was what he did best. Crossing oceans and valleys and he'd clocked up a fair bit of mileage over the years. He was depressed, that was also a common thing with the young Hibiki.  
  
"Damn you Ranma!" He raged. "It's all your fault! Because of you I've seen Hell!"  
  
Ryoga was not paying attention to where he was going; it happened on a regular basis. Unfortunately he had stumbled on to some very private property.  
  
"Excuse me, where do you think you're going?"  
  
"Where am I?"  
  
"You're on Gowa land, young man. I suggest you leave now." A security guard in a suit replied.  
  
"Are you threatening me?" Ryoga grinned. This was just what he needed to work out his frustration.  
  
"What if I am?"  
  
"Then prepare to suffer the consequences of angering Ryoga Hibiki!"  
  
The suited man moved into a stance. "This is private property that means you're trespassing. Leave now, before we have you arrested."  
  
"Make me," Ryoga insisted, pulling out his weighted umbrella.  
  
The man spoke into a microphone. "We have a situation here at the south pond, requesting assistance."  
  
*Acknowledged.*  
  
"Calling for help? How cowardly!"  
  
The man shook his head. "No, just prudent."  
  
He moved to get Ryoga away from the house, when Ranma showed up.  
  
"What you doin' here, Bacon Breath?"  
  
"Ranma," the lost boy snarled. "Because of you, I've seen hell! Prepare to die!"  
  
Ranma tensed his legs, ready for Ryoga's attack. He leapt towards the wandering martial artist having decided that he was beginning to get rusty without a sparring partner.  
  
Ryoga jabbed his umbrella at Ranma's stomach.  
  
Ranma dodged to his left and noted that Ryoga's speed had improved. "You're faster, Pig-boy. This should be fun." Inwardly though, Ranma was concerned that Ryoga might have learned a few new tricks while he had stood still.  
  
Ryoga snarled again. "I'll make you pay for what you did to me. Because of you, Akane hates me!"  
  
Ranma's expression didn't change as he threw a quick barrage of punches at Hibiki, most of them connecting. Leaping back he taunted Ryoga. "Why? Because you slept in her bed? Because you were the pervert she said I was?"  
  
Ryoga just saw red and charged like an enraged bull.  
  
Ranma opted to lead his opponent into a spiral pattern away from the house. Throwing in kicks and punches, he attempted wear Ryoga down. 'Damn this is going too slowly, I'll tire before he does.'  
  
*SPLASH*  
  
Ranma looked to direction the water came from. "Mom?"  
  
"Ranma, I'm sorry for interfering in your fight, but this 'man' has caused enough trouble." Nodoka was most upset with Ryoga.  
  
P-chan recovered and leapt at Ranma but was batted into the pond.  
  
"Do you see what I mean, Ranma? You considered him a friend, but he has repeatedly took taken advantage of your generous nature. I know that you don't have many friends, but he has not acted like any friend I would want my son associating with." Nodoka took a disapproving tone with her son.  
  
Ranma was at a loss for words. On one hand, she was right about Ryoga's behaviour; but on the other, he could count the number of his friends on the fingers of that hand.  
  
Ryoga climbed out of the pond and glared at Nodoka. Deciding that is would be good time to get lost, he tried to sneak away.  
  
The suited security guard thought that he would be negligent in his duty to allow that to happen. "Excuse me, Mistress Nodoka. What do you want to do with this?" he held up P-chan by the collar.  
  
Ranma was still out of it, so Nodoka took the initative. She whispered to the man, "Take it to a vet. Get it neutered, that should deal with its urges. Ranma!"  
  
"Huh? Yes mom?"  
  
"Come inside, I've got something to tell you."  
  
Ranma was a little unsure about his mother's words. He still felt a little guilty about Ryoga's Jusenkyo curse.  
  
*********************  
  
Inside, Nodoka motioned for Ranma to sit down.  
  
"Son, the Tendos have agreed to the terms of the contract. Nabiki will be moving in here the day after tomorrow, that's when we will begin your studies again."  
  
Ranma nodded, but the look on his face told her that he didn't like the idea of schoolwork.   
  
Realising that he needed more of a carrot rather then a stick as a motivating factor, Nodoka offered a compromise. "If your work is of a high enough standard, I will allow training trips and visits to various dojo masters. I'm sure that there are a few techniques that you want to learn."  
  
When Ranma's eye lit up, she knew that she had found the right incentive. "Maybe you could start you own style, for use in the TA?"  
  
Ranma could barely sit still he was that excited about the idea. It was one thing to adapt a technique to his needs, but to create a whole new style? That truly appealed to him.  
  
"Do you really think that I could do that?"  
  
"My son, I doubt that there's much you can't do. No go and decide what would work in your new school of TA martial arts." Nodoka smiled at her beloved son.  
  
*********************  
  
The next morning a lawyer knocked on the door of the Tendo household.  
  
"Yes, can I help you?" Kasumi asked.  
  
"I hope so. I'm from the Gowa group, I believe you have a contract for me to pick up?"  
  
Nabiki walked up to the door, "You said something about a contract?"  
  
"Yes, is it ready?"  
  
Nabiki handed it over, the lawyer bowed in thanks.  
  
"Is that your father over there?"  
  
"Daddy, can you come here for a moment?" Nabiki called out.  
  
"Can I help you sir?"  
  
"I just wanted you to know that we will be keeping tabs on Genma Saotome. These gentlemen are going to start rebuilding today if you are ready for them."  
  
"Already?" Kasumi was a little surprised.  
  
The foreman walked up to the door. "Our apologies for any inconvience we cause you."  
  
*********************  
  
To be continued.  
  
Thanks go out to Chi Vayne for his assistance.  
  
Opinions, thoughts, questions, comments and suggestions are all welcome.  
  
Please deliver them by your usual method.  
  
Email:  
  
(lordraa) (@) (digitalpimp) (.co.uk) 


	11. Chapter 10

Project Mile Two  
  
By Lord Raa  
  
*******************  
  
Kodachi leapt across the rooftops of Nerima towards the Tendo dojo. Knocking on the door, she expected Ranma to be there.  
  
"Hello Kodachi," Kasumi answered the door.   
  
"Where is my darling Ranma?" The Kuno family always managed to sound pompous.  
  
"He's not here."  
  
"Ah, the mercenary Tendo appears. What has happened to my noble warrior during my absence?"  
  
Nabiki considered Kodachi's situation for a moment. "Assuming that it is a concern of yours, why should I tell you?"  
  
Kodachi fumed, "You would keep my from my love? "  
  
"You do a good enough job of that on your own." Nabiki smirked.  
  
"What could one such as you know about Ranma?" Kodachi looked down her nose at Nabiki. "What could you possibly offer him?"  
  
Nabiki dropped the smirk. "I'll tell you this, Ranma thinks more of me then you. Good night, Miss Kuno."  
  
The door slammed shut.  
  
Kasumi turned to her sister. "That was a bit rude, Nabiki."   
  
"Sorry about that Kasumi, it's just that I've had enough of the Kuno family."  
  
Akane walked down the stairs to join her sisters.  
  
"How are you holding up, Akane?"  
  
"I'll be fine. I just wanted to know why Ranma never told me the truth about P-chan."  
  
Nabiki sighed, "Ranma made a promise. He's big on things like that."  
  
Akane looked at her hands. "D-do you think he hates me?"  
  
"Ranma?" Nabiki shook her head. "No. Auntie Nodoka? That's another story."  
  
Akane looked at her sister. "Why would she hate me?"  
  
Nabiki's face acquired a painful expression. "I think we should sit down for this."  
  
**********************  
  
Akane cried herself to sleep that night. In the morning, she was in such poor shape that she almost missed Nabiki's departure.  
  
"Take care of Akane, Kasumi. She needs a lot of support right now."  
  
Kasumi nodded.  
  
"Well, I'll write to you in a couple of days."  
  
"Waah, my little girl is growing up." Soun bawled as expected. But for the first time in a while, he had good reason to be emotional.  
  
Deciding to cut down on the theatrics, Nabiki walked over to the waiting car. She waved to her family as she pulled away.  
  
**********************  
  
A few days later.  
  
Nabiki found a need to express her thoughts and concerns. Not being used to talking with others about her feelings, she wrote in her journal: -  
  
Well, I've got myself into a situation I never would have expected a month ago. Of course, I never would have expected a potential fiancé to change into a girl with a splash of cold water.  
  
But here I am, working in the Gowa group for that same young man, Ranma.  
  
I'm finding myself more and more surprised with him. He's much more than a pretty face - no one could master the techniques that he does in such a short space of time if they were stupid.  
  
Now he turns out to be rich. Richer than Kuno.  
  
Then he gets that curse of his cured.  
  
He's perfect for me!  
  
But how do I get the fool to ask me out?  
  
***************************  
  
Ukyo Kuonji walked to her apartment from school, a smile on her face.  
  
"Excuse me young lady, but do you have a reason to be here?" a policeman asked her.  
  
"Yes, I live in that building. Why? Is something up?"  
  
The man nodded grimly. "I'm afraid that the building must be fumigated. Some damn fool imported something that had some diseased animals in."  
  
"Damn. How long is this going to take?" Ukyo had just settled in at school, she didn't need this sort of complication messing with her education. "I'm going to lose business; I own the restaurant in that building."  
  
"Another day or two."  
  
*CRASH*  
  
A delivery van driver lost control and ploughed into the building in question, shaking it violently.  
  
"That's my business he trashed!" Ukyo screamed.  
  
"Perhaps you should find someone to put you up?" the policeman offered moving away from the slightly glowing girl.  
  
Ukyo was about to launch a scathing attack on the man when she had an idea. "Ranchan!"  
  
Rushing to a payphone, Ukyo fumbled for Ranma's number. Dialling she hoped that he would answer.  
  
*Gowa residence, how may I help you?*  
  
Ukyo was taken aback by the man on the line. "Err, I would like to speak to Ranma, please."  
  
*Please bear with me. Who shall I say is calling?*  
  
"Tell him it's Ucchan."  
  
A minute later Ranma was on the other end.  
  
*Ucchan?*  
  
"Yeah, Ranchan. I need a favour. Can you put me up 'til I find a new place to stay?"  
  
*I'll ask my folks. Can I call you back in a few minutes?*  
  
"Yeah, the number's (45) 4568-4239."  
  
*Right. See you Ucchan.*  
  
A few minutes later the pay phone rang.  
  
"Ranchan?"  
  
*Yeah Ucchan, I asked and they said that it's ok for a few days. I'll come and pick you up, where are you?*  
  
"I'm just across the road from my place. Thanks Ranchan, I appreciate it."  
  
*No problem, Ucchan. See you in a few.*  
  
*************************  
  
Nodoka smiled to herself as she thought about Ukyo's visit. 'Maybe if I could convince Ranma to be as little bit more affectionate with the girls, then he'd be happy. I know they would.'  
  
Nabiki saw the look on Nodoka's face and somehow knew that something was up. 'She's plotting something.' "Auntie Nodoka, is something up?"  
  
"No Nabiki, it's just that Ukyo will be staying with us for a few days. Ranma just left to pick her up in the car."  
  
"Oh." 'Damn, Ukyo's going to be around, I'll have to move fast if I want Ranma.'  
  
Nodoka decided that Nabiki needed a little teasing. "Of course, I don't mind if both you and Ukyo agree to share him."  
  
Nabiki blushed slightly.  
  
***************************  
  
Ukyo's weeklong stay with Ranma's family went all too quickly for her. Nabiki was under the impression that it dragged on. Ranma? Well, he thought it was great that he got to spend time with his two friends.  
  
A month after Ukyo's stay at the Gowa house had ended, Ranma, Nabiki and Ukyo were out window-shopping on the streets of Gowa city. With Nabiki in the shopping party, few items would be purchased for their listed prices.  
  
Ukyo had decided to stake an early claim on Ranma by grabbing hold of his arm.  
  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed at this blatant challenge and, like Ranma, Nabiki didn't like backing down from a challenge.  
  
"Hey Ranma, don't leave me behind - I've got the money," Nabiki joked as she grabbed his other arm.  
  
Ranma froze as he realised what was warming his arms.  
  
"Don't worry Ranchan, you're not being perverted," Ukyo whispered in his ear.  
  
Ranma's face showed some relief for a moment, the panic returned as he realised Nabiki was still attached to his arm.  
  
Nabiki saw a chance to repair some of the damage done to Ranma by her younger sister. "I can assure you that I would not be attracted to a pervert, Ranma."  
  
Ranma blush increased at the proximity of the two girls to his face.  
  
Ukyo giggled at Ranma's embarrassment and gave him a quick kiss on the   
  
cheek. 'I wonder what Nabiki's going to do after that.'   
  
Nabiki thought about that and decided to raise the stakes by kissing Ranma on the cheek and adding: "Auntie Nodoka would be proud."  
  
"Huh?" was Ranma's less then articulate response.  
  
Ukyo was also intrigued by her rival's statement.  
  
"Auntie Nodoka would be impressed by your manliness - taking two girls on at the same time." Nabiki teased absently.   
  
Ukyo thought over Nabiki's words. 'Is she bluffing about sharing Ranchan?'   
  
During a gust of cold wind, Ranma assumed the naughtiest possibility when both Nabiki and Ukyo gripped him tighter for warmth. A trickle of blood came out of his nose.  
  
"I am a pervert," he said quietly.   
  
"Ranchan?" Ukyo turned to her friend and saw the blood on his face.  
  
"Ranma are you ok?" Nabiki was worried about Ranma's health after his family told her that he was at greater risk of developing cancer. As she led him to a nearby bench, Ranma nodded.  
  
Nabiki realised the reason for Ranma's nasal leakage and smiled to herself.  
  
Ranma turned to his assistant, "Nabiki what did you mean when you said taking on two girls at the same time?"  
  
Ukyo also wanted to her this answer.  
  
As Nabiki fumbled for words, the teenagers heard a laugh that sent chills down their spines.  
  
"So there you are my dear Ranma." Kodachi landed before them and twirled her ribbon. "It took me a while to track you down."  
  
"What do you want, Kodachi?" Ukyo snarled.  
  
"Why, only to be close to Ranma-sama, of course. Why are you two harpies here?"  
  
"Don't insult my friends, Kodachi," Ranma warned as he stood up. "You will regret it."  
  
"Ranma, you're so aggressive. It excites me," Kodachi swayed as she walked up to him.  
  
Ukyo and Nabiki stood in front of Ranma so he would not have to break his habit of not hitting girls. "Back down, you inbred maniac. Ranma is not yours nor will he ever be."   
  
"Oh, and what is he to you Tendo?"  
  
"She works for me. Leave now, or get hurt. The choice is yours." Ranma was not in the mood to deal with any of the Kuno family.  
  
"There you are, foul sorcerer!"   
  
"Not him." Ranma and Nabiki held their heads in their hands.  
  
"My search has determined that the pigtailed goddess has not been sighted in Hokkaido. Where have you hidden her?" Kuno pointed his bokken at Ranma.  
  
"Go. Away. Kuno. Is that simple enough for you to understand?" Nabiki had grown tired of Kuno's ranting over the years. Now her family was being taken care of, she no longer had to tolerate his idiocy.  
  
"I see that he has ensorcelled even the mercenary Nabiki Tendo. Have at you!"   
  
Kuno charged. Into a fist.  
  
Kodachi took this opportunity to get rid of the competition for Ranma's heart.   
  
In a rare moment of clarity, she decided that Ukyo would be the tougher opponent.  
  
  
  
Nabiki, however, was considered to be fair game and an easy target.  
  
She launched herself at the middle Tendo daughter. Feinting with the ribbon, she used a rose loaded with paralysis gas on Nabiki.  
  
"Unnh," Nabiki groaned as she fell to the floor.  
  
Ukyo's arm was tangled up in the ribbon's next attack. Deciding to use it as a method of getting in close, she manoeuvred to give Kodachi a backhand to the face.  
  
Kodachi screeched at Ukyo. "You filthy witch, you'll pay for marring my beautiful features."  
  
Pulling out a spiked gymnastics club, she threw it at Ukyo's torso. It caused a glancing blow, but that was still enough to draw blood.  
  
"Ranchan!" Ukyo called out as she slipped out of consciousness and fell roughly against Kuno's bokken, bruising her arm.   
  
Ranma was now angry. The Kuno siblings had now hurt his two best friends.   
  
Rushing in to make sure Ucchan and Nabiki were all right, he turned to the attackers. "This is your last chance to avoid a blood feud. If you don't piss off back to Nerima right now, I will personally stomp the Kuno house into dust."  
  
Tatewaki Kuno was not the smartest of individuals, but even he normally would have balked at the threat of a blood feud with the Gowa clan. Unfortunately the part of his brain that was used for rational thinking was sorely atrophied; and as such failed to over-ride his arrogance. Otherwise, he would have realised that Ranma could indeed wipe out the Kuno clan.  
  
"I think not, foul sorcerer!" the bokken wielding idiot charged again.  
  
Ranma blurred, punching and kicking Kuno in various vulnerable points on his body repeatedly, causing Kuno coughed up blood.  
  
Ranma turned to Kodachi. "Take this idiot home with you. I never want to even hear the name Kuno again. Be gone from my sight!" Ranma finished with a shout.  
  
Kodachi was taken aback by the sudden attitude change in Ranma. 'These harlots have corrupted him.'  
  
Picking up her brother, Kodachi made her exit, though it was much less extravagant than her entrance.  
  
Ranma looked over his friends, they seemed to be ok, but unable to move or talk. Gathering them in his arms as best he could, Ranma started on his way back to the Gowa house.  
  
***************************  
  
Ranma waited for the family doctor's diagnosis.  
  
"They should be alright after a good rest, although they will have a headache. Try not to disturb them too much."  
  
"Thanks, doctor." Ranma bowed to the man.  
  
Nodoka walked up to her son. "Ranma, what happened? You brought them here and demanded that someone bring a doctor."  
  
Ranma took a deep breath to calm him of the rising anger. "We were out shopping when the Kunos decided to pay a visit. They hurt Ucchan and Biki-chan."  
  
Nodoka's face darkened. "Did you say anything to them?"  
  
"I threatened them with a blood feud." Ranma looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry, I know that I shouldn't have."  
  
Nodoka hugged Ranma. "You just wanted to protect them, son. It's alright."  
  
Kiyoharu walked by. "Is something wrong?"  
  
"Ranma threatened the Kuno clan with a blood feud because they hurt Nabiki and Ukyo."  
  
Kiyoharu looked at his cousins. "And who are the Kunos again?"  
  
"They're some family that claims to be of samurai ancestry. Remember when we took Ranma out of Furinkan?"  
  
"Oh yes, the Hawaii obsessed principal. I'm glad that you fought him off, No-chan."  
  
Ranma's jaw tightened. "He-he attacked you?"  
  
"Yes," Nodoka answered, "but I fought him off."  
  
"That's it; the Kunos are going down. To attack me is one thing but they have attacked my fiancées, my friends and my family." Ranma's aura sprung up around him.   
  
Nodoka looked at Ranma. 'He's so manly to defend his friends and family like that. He is too much for one girl to handle.'  
  
Kiyoharu was impressed by Ranma's attitude. "Ranma, I will check into the Kuno's actions to determine if we should do this on the QT or through the system. I doubt that the courts would allow you to traipse through the Kuno grounds in a TA."  
  
Ranma smiled at his cousin. "But something tells me that you would."  
  
***************************  
  
Nabiki awoke with a headache.  
  
"Ranma?"  
  
"I'm here Nabiki. Are you all right? Would you like a drink of water?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm a little dry." Nabiki quickly drank the water.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"We were out shopping and the Kunos attacked us. We're looking at the best way to deal with them."  
  
"What are your options. And can I help?"  
  
"Of course you can, Biki-chan. I need the help of my lovely assistant." Ranma didn't notice Nabiki's blush at the pet name and continued. "Either you and Kiyoharu bankrupt them or I trash their holdings in a TA."  
  
"Can't we do both Ranchan?"  
  
Ranma and Nabiki turned to the now conscious Ukyo. "You ok, Ucchan?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be right as rain soon enough."  
  
Ranma rushed to the side of his former fiancée. "I'm glad, Ucchan. I was really worried about you and Biki-chan."  
  
"Biki-chan?" Nabiki ask incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, you don't mind do you?" Ranma asked fearfully.  
  
"Well, I don't know. I mean, it's the sort of name I'd only allow my _boyfriend_ to call me," Nabiki teased.  
  
"Hey, you haven't beaten me yet, Nabiki," Ukyo insisted.  
  
Ranma sighed. "I thought that I was done with all the fighting over me."  
  
Ranma thought about how to best deal with the situation between himself,   
  
Nabiki and Ukyo. 'I don't know which one I like best. Nabiki is a great help.   
  
But Ucchan is great fun to be around. They're both cute and nice to me.'  
  
"If I don't make a decision, then I'm as bad as Kuno." Ranma stated sadly.   
  
"It's not right to cheat with one behind the other's back."  
  
"But what if I gave you permission to sleep with Nabiki, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked completely out of the blue.  
  
Ranma was stunned into silence.  
  
"And what if I wanted to join you and Ucchan, Ranma?" Nabiki asked playfully.  
  
Now Ranma start to feel faint as the blood rushed to his head. It started to   
  
leak from his nose.  
  
"See, Nabiki he's not ready for such things. I told you we should wait till he's older before trying out the Kama Sutra with him." Ucchan sat up, took Ranma's hand and looked him in the eye. "Ranchan, you know I love you. Do you love me or Nabiki?"  
  
Nabiki moved in closer to Ranma waiting for an answer.  
  
"I think I love you both," Ranma's voice was barely above a whisper.  
  
Nabiki was not sure whether to smile or frown at that revelation. Ukyo felt similarly.  
  
"Well, I'll let you both get some rest." Ranma left the room to ponder his thoughts.  
  
***************************  
  
Ranma needed to ask someone's advice, (un) fortunately the first person he   
  
came across was his mother.  
  
"Is something the matter son?"  
  
"I have a dilemma."  
  
"Oh?" Nodoka had a vague idea what his problem was.  
  
"There's this girl that I like. Well, no - there's these two girls that I like."   
  
Ranma was unable to look his mother in the eye.  
  
"And you can't decide which one to chose?"  
  
"Yeah. You see, Kuno was like that with his pigtailed goddess and Akane he   
  
lusted after them both. I *am* better then him." Ranma voice had a core of   
  
steel.  
  
"But Ranma, neither of you wanted to be with Kuno. As I understand it, both   
  
Ukyo and Nabiki like you." Nodoka smiled as thoughts of Ranma's manliness   
  
occurred to her. "Well, I'm sure that you will mange to make both of them happy."  
  
"Mom!" Ranma was becoming exasperated with Nodoka's strange ideas.  
  
"I'm only teasing you, son. I know that you don't want to hurt either of them. I   
  
will support any decision you make. Now come her and give me a hug."  
  
***************************  
  
As Ukyo bathed with Nabiki, she asked her about the situation with Ranma. "What shall we do with Ranchan?"  
  
"That's a good question. Part of me wants to sneak into his room at night and let him be manly with me all night long."  
  
Ukyo nodded at that statement. "I know what you mean. And the rest of you?"  
  
Nabiki thought for a moment. "Part of me wonders if I can make him happy. We don't share many interests, unlike you - you have martial arts and you're childhood friends. What do I have?"  
  
Nodoka walked in to the bathroom. "My son's respect." She started to scrub down. "He told me that some of the things you did kept a roof over your heads and put food on the table."   
  
Nabiki smiled at piece of information.  
  
Nodoka rinsed herself off and stepped into the furo. "Ranma is going through a difficult stage at the moment," she said after settling in the hot water. "It seems as if Ranma's emotional development was stunted during his training trip and he's only now maturing."  
  
"That would explain his teasing of Akane," Nabiki added. "It also explains why he said that he thought he loved both of us - he's not quite sure what love is."   
  
"Who can blame him with his upbringing?" Ukyo asked rhetorically.  
  
Nodoka managed to hide most of her shame at the realisation that Genma had fouled up most of Ranma's life. "Yes. Well, I think that you two can show Ranma what love is. I know I seem a bit strange to you, but I got lonely during his absence. I had dreams of Ranma's children running around for me to dote on."  
  
Ukyo saw her eyes mist up. "I for one, would be glad to bear Ranchan's children."   
  
Nabiki looked at the sincerity in Ukyo's eyes and the look of absolute joy on Nodoka's face. 'Damn, this is moving too fast for my liking. I'm not ready for children,' were her slightly panicked thoughts.   
  
Nodoka looked at Nabiki, "don't worry dear. Ranma isn't ready for fatherhood just yet. He still gets embarrassed when he tries to talk to me about his feelings for the two of you."  
  
Nabiki was relieved yet frustrated at that. "I can see why everybody gets so emotional when it comes to Ranma," she replied dryly.  
  
Ukyo laughed, "that's Ranchan for you. He's the man among men that can get even the 'Ice Queen of Furinkan' flustered."  
  
Nabiki decided that she couldn't take that lying down. "Laugh it up, Ucchan. I seem to remember him thinking that you were a boy."  
  
Ukyo scowled.  
  
Nabiki smiled, "don't worry Ucchan, I'm only teasing you back. To tell you the truth, I'm jealous of the your friendship with Ranma." Turning to Nodoka, she asked about her take on the Kuno situation.  
  
"I'm angry with that entire bloodline. I did some checking and I found something most disturbing." Nodoka's tone did not suggest that the Kuno clan was as noble as Tatewaki claimed.  
  
***************************  
  
To be continued.  
  
Thanks go out to Chi Vayne as my pre-reader.  
  
Opinions, like it? Love it? Loathe it?  
  
Let me know, please.  
  
Just what did the Kunos do? Well, suffice to say (at this time, anyway) that any noble minded individual would be angry with them.  
  
  
  
Also, I'm taking votes on the match up. Ucchan? Biki-chan? Both? Neither?  
  
Email (two addresses for you to choose between this time)  
  
(lordaa) (hotmail) (.com)  
  
or  
  
(lordraa) (digitalpimp) (.co.uk) 


	12. The beginning of the End

Project Mile Two  
  
by Lord Raa  
  
Chapter 11  
  
The Beginning of the End.  
  
**********  
  
Ranma was considering his relationship with his potential girlfriends. 'I really like Biki-chan, but I can't ruin Ucchan's life any more then I have. I feel really bad about them getting hurt because of me. It feels wrong to do anything with them until I make a decision.'  
  
"Ranma!" Nabiki called out. As there was no reply, Nabiki walked up to Ranma and shook him gently as she spoke. "Ranma, I've got your results from your latest set of mid-terms here."   
  
"Oh," Ranma looked a little downcast. "Well, how badly have I done then?"  
  
Nabiki opened the envelope. "Well, you've managed to pass. Average grade is B+," her voice carried surprise and admiration.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You scored fantastically well."  
  
Ranma hugged Nabiki. "Thanks Biki-chan, I couldn't have done it without you."  
  
Nabiki blushed as she stammered acceptance of his gratitude.  
  
"You wanna go out for ice cream?"  
  
She was about to answer yes, when Nodoka walked in. "Ranma, Kiyotsugu and Kiyoharu wanted to talk with you about something."  
  
"Is it important?" Ranma had other plans, like repaying Nabiki's kindness.  
  
"Yes, it concerns the Kunos. Nabiki, he wanted you to hear this."  
  
That was enough to silence any dissent from Ranma. Though he had cooled off slightly after a few days and plenty of sleep, he was still feeling the need to hand out some serious justice.  
  
**********  
  
Ranma knocked on the door to Kiyoharu's office.  
  
"Come in."  
  
Ranma entered the room with concerned look on his face, while Nabiki wore a neutral look. "You wanted to see us?"  
  
Kiyoharu nodded. "Yes, it's about the Kuno clan. We've done some digging and well, I'm not sure how much of this you're going to understand, but I think that you aren't going to like this."  
  
Ranma looked at his cousin intently.  
  
Kiyotsugu took over. "Ranma, do you know what opium is?"  
  
"That's a drug isn't it?"  
  
"Yes. Kuno's great-uncle Shin started importing it during the reconstruction. The Kunos are linked to some of the most vicious yakuza in Japan."  
  
Ranma was shocked at this. "But I thought that they were a warrior clan like us."  
  
"They were, but towards the end of the 19th century, they started to have financial problems," Kiyoharu shifted in his seat. "That's when they became thugs for hire. After that, it was only a matter of time before extortion, gambling prostitution and narcotics followed. Nabiki, what happed to Aoi Inoue?"  
  
Ranma's face was beginning to darken. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?" He turned to Nabiki for an answer.  
  
"She was my best friend. Her father taught me a lot about business, but the economy was against him and he was forced to declare bankruptcy. They moved out of Nerima and I never saw them again, why?"  
  
Kiyoharu decided that now was the time to tell Nabiki what happened. "I found out that some of the Kunos are yakuza, Nabiki. They tried the usual protection racket. When he refused to pay, he was forced out of business. Aoi was tried to reason with them, but they killed her father and forced her in to do some unpleasant things."  
  
The temperature in the room skyrocketed as Ranma's aura sprung up around him, singeing his chair and causing Nabiki to break out in a sweat.  
  
"Are you sure?" Nabiki asked, not wanting the answer to be the one she suspected.  
  
Kiyoharu nodded, "Yes. But I'm sorry to tell you that there's more. Genma has been sighted on their grounds, we think that he's trying to get back at Ranma by selling him off to either Tatewaki or Kodachi."  
  
Ranma's aura doubled in intensity. "That's it! I was gonna go easy on pops, but now I'm gonna kill him." Rage undid some of the remedial language lessons Ranma had been taking.  
  
Nabiki looked Kiyoharu straight in the eye. "Where do we stand, legally, on this whole feud thing?"  
  
"There is a major operation underway to arrest the Kuno organisation. It seems it got out that they recently became involved with child pornography and certain people took exception to that and decided that enough was enough."  
  
Nabiki agreed with Ranma, the Kunos were going to be put out of business for good, in the harshest way possible.  
  
"If we pull a few strings, we can get you on the taskforce that raids the Kuno mansion," Kiyoharu smiled as he spoke. "If you are interested, that is."  
  
The look on Ranma's face was not difficult to read. "They've been the biggest thorn in my side since I got to Nerima. They've attacked me, my friends and my family - they're going down."  
  
**********  
  
As the engineers worked on Ranma's TA, the anti-yakuza department prepared for the raid on the Kuno mansion.  
  
There was a knock at the door.  
  
Superintendent Yamamura poked his head round the door. "Ah, gentlemen. I have some news for you. I have gotten us some help."  
  
"Oh, what is it sir?" Inspector Tanaka asked.  
  
"A young man named Ranma Gowa. Now I know how you feel about kids interfering in police operations, but I took the liberty of preparing a file on him."  
  
Handing the inspector a thick file, he turned to leave. "Gentlemen, I'm afraid his is a political appointment. Yes, he's one of those Gowas. But on the plus side, he'll be leaving once this last operation is completed."  
  
"I'm not so sure that this is a good idea. I what if this boy gets injured? You know that he's a Gowa and we'll be in trouble if he gets hurt." Sergeant Takeshi Sato was concerned about political repercussions.  
  
"I know what you mean, I heard a rumour that there was a civilian who saw combat in Belgistan. I don't think that a civilian should be in the line of fire." Sergeant Akira Yadate specialised in intelligence.  
  
"Sergeant, I've looked at the reports on this Ranma boy, and let me tell you this: if he was in the police, they'd be a lot less crime on the streets. His physical ability far exceeds anything the instructors at the academy have seen. He can handle himself." The superintendent tried his best to assuage their fears.  
  
Sato had flicked through the file and saw that Ranma was a martial artist. "I still think that a civilian accompanying us on the raid is a bad idea. We're dealing with dangerous criminals here, people who fight dirty."   
  
The Superintendent played his ace. "He comes with his own TA. Yes, we're getting some military hardware for this one."  
  
**********  
  
Nabiki was filled with a new found loathing for the Kuno clan. They were crazy, that was common knowledge, what wasn't was just how sick some of the Kunos were. The fact that Kodachi had snuck into her house in Nerima and attacked Akane played through her mind constantly keeping her awake.  
  
'But,' she thought, 'if Ranma was in the room, he'd protect me!'  
  
Deciding that even though the Gowa compound was a secure place, she wanted a bodyguard in the same room she slept in. And as luck would have it, she knew of one that she liked enough to snuggle up against. She made her move to Ranma's bed chambers.  
  
**********  
  
Ukyo Kuonji was again a guest at the Gowa residence. Her normally cheerful manner made her popular with the staff there. Despite always being made welcome there, her sleep was not as forthcoming as she'd hoped. Again it was the fact that the Kuno clan could cause them no end of trouble.  
  
"I can't sleep. Damn Kunos," she grumbled. "Stupid Kodachi and her sneak attacks."   
  
She decided that she needed a walk to clear her head. Quickly tying a bathrobe around her, she went for a midnight stroll that would take her past Ranma's room.  
  
**********  
  
Outside Ranma's room, Ukyo spotted Nabiki.  
  
Walking up to her, she asked, "Nabiki, what are you doing here?"  
  
Nabiki closed her eyes and cursed under her breath as she realised that she'd been caught by her rival for Ranma's heart. "I couldn't sleep that's all."  
  
"Me neither. So you were thinking that a walk would help?"  
  
Nabiki nodded.  
  
"Me too," Ukyo confirmed Nabiki's suspicions.   
  
"So why did we end up at Ranma's door?" Nabiki pondered aloud.  
  
"My guess is that we're comfortable around Ranma, and we figured that we'd get some sleep if he was near." Ukyo gestured to the door.   
  
Nabiki decided that now was the time to tell her rival for Ranma how she felt. "Ucchan, I want you to know that even though we didn't get on at first, I've come to the conclusion that if it makes Ranma happy, I'll share him with you."  
  
Ukyo considered Nabiki's statement. "You mean 'some Ranma is better than no Ranma'?"   
  
Nabiki looked at her feet in shame and replied in a quite voice, "yes."  
  
Ukyo smiled internally at the little victory over the "Ice Queen". 'She's opened up a lot more since she started living with Ranchan,' she thought. 'Wait a minute, she could have been working up the courage to seduce Ranchan. I'll best keep an eye on her.'  
  
"Well, if we plan on sneaking into Ranchan's bed, we'd best do so whilst he's still asleep."  
  
Nabiki looked up and smiled. "Right."  
  
**********  
  
The following morning, Nodoka was looking for Nabiki and Ukyo. She'd stopped by their rooms and not found them there.Then a thought struck her. 'Maybe Ranma was being manly with one of them last night.'  
  
Smiling, she lightly stepped to Ranma's room and opened the door.  
  
A sight that greeted her eyes filled her heart with joy. Ranma was lying on his back snoring lightly while Nabiki was keeping his left side warm.  
  
It was when her standing by the open door stirred Ukyo on her son's right side that she nearly blew a gasket.  
  
"My son - he was... with two girls last night. Oh my, I'm so proud," she gushed praise.  
  
Ukyo lifted her head up and saw Nodoka there smiling at the scene. "Uh-oh."  
  
This startled Nodoka out of her trance. She winked at the chef and quickly left.  
  
Ukyo was a little surprised to feel Ranma's arm around her waist. "Ranchan?"  
  
"Mmm, Ucchan's nice to hug."  
  
Nabiki hugged Ranma tighter out of some subconscious jealousy reflex.   
  
"But Biki-chan is nice to hug too," Ranma spoke again in his sleep, wrapping his arm around her waist.  
  
This caused Nabiki to loosen her grip. As the facts of the situation filtered through to Ranma's brain, long surpressed hormones started to flow like water.  
  
Nabiki shivered as the covers started to cover less of her body.   
  
Ukyo as the awake party, realised something was going on. Looking down Ranma's body she saw a common condition in teenage males.  
  
Her gasp woke up Ranma.  
  
"What?" Ranma asked, too concerned that something bad had happened to his best friend to realise that she and Nabiki had spent the best part of the night in his bed.  
  
Ukyo pointed to his groin.  
  
"Aaah, that's odd! That's never happened before," he commented.  
  
Ukyo was concerned that Ranma might not be able to "perform" properly. "What do you mean, Ranchan?"  
  
"I mean that that's never done that before. Y'know gone hard."  
  
"What's going on? Why am I cold?" Nabiki asked as she woke up. She looked at her surroundings. "Oh yeah, I snuck into Ranma's room, didn't I?"  
  
Ranma was starting to panic as he discovered that he'd been in bed with Nabiki and Ukyo. He quickly scuttled off to a corner and curled into a ball. "I'm a pervert. I'm a pervert," he kept saying to himself.  
  
Nabiki turned to Ukyo, "what's with Ranma?"  
  
Ukyo took on a bright scarlet hue as she fiddled with her fingers. "Ranchan had 'morning wood' for the first time."  
  
Nabiki's eyes took up half of her face. She quickly composed herself. "So that's what moved the covers?"  
  
Ucchan nodded. Seeing Ranma stricken with terror, she splashed him with a glass of water.  
  
Ranma stopped his babbling and looked at the girls in his room. "Are you two all right? I didn't do anything perverted to you did I?" he asked his voice trembling with fear.  
  
Nabiki shook her head. "Ranma, if anyone was a pervert in here last night, it was me, not you. I'm sorry, I slipped into you bed last night because I couldn't sleep."   
  
Ukyo knew that she would need to give a reason for her presence. "Ranchan, I couldn't sleep either. I came in during the night too."  
  
"What happens now?" Ranma asked the girls on his bed.  
  
"Well breakfast is in order," Nabiki offered.  
  
"Yes, but Ranchan's mother is under the impression that we, y'know, last night."  
  
Nabiki blushed, but felt disappointed at the truth.  
  
"That we did what?" Ranma asked confused.  
  
Nabiki would have rolled her eyes had it been someone else that asked that question, but it seemed that Ranma was new to these sensations. "What did you feel like doing with us in your dreams, Ranma?"  
  
It was Ranma's turn to change colour. "I - err," was all he could manage as he fiddled with his pigtail.  
  
"Yeah, exactly Ranchan. Well at least we know that you're human," Ukyo joked.  
  
Nabiki nodded in agreement. "Yep, I must admit that it was hard to believe that nothing happened all those times Shampoo snuck into your bed. Now we know better."  
  
Ukyo glared at Nabiki. "Excuse me? You let that Chinese floozy spend the night in Ranchan's bed? On several occasions?"  
  
Nabiki noticed her uncharacteristic slip and Ukyo's dangerous tone of voice. She quickly tried to back peddle. "Well, that's not what I meant, Ucchan."  
  
Ranma was now fully awake and realised that Ukyo could hurt Nabiki over something that, in his opinion, was irrelevant ancient history. Quickly shedding his night clothes, he intervened with an Anything Goes desperation strike. "Help, my clothes have fallen off!"  
  
As both girls turned to Ranma, they both developed sweat drops when he grinned and rubbed the back of his head with his right hand.  
  
"Ranchan?" Ukyo began hesitantly.  
  
"Why are you naked?" Nabiki finished, asking the ten million yen question.   
  
"I didn't want my friends to fight. I don't have many, so I try to look out for the ones I do have. So can you try and get along better?" he pled with the two girls. "For me?"  
  
Ukyo's rage quickly dissipated when she saw the look in her would be boyfriend's eyes.  
  
Nabiki nodded. "Ok, Ranma. How about we get dressed and have some breakfast? Not that I mind seeing your naked body," she teased.  
  
Ranma blushed furiously as he felt a breeze and his stomach started to rumble.  
  
**********  
  
After Breakfast, the police stopped by the Gowa's to discuss Ranma's participation in the upcoming raid on the Kunos.   
  
The policemen that doubted Ranma's inclusion were treated to a quick demonstration of his martial arts prowess.  
  
In a display of agility that was showy even for him, he bounced across the courtyard, marking where he touched the roof with hiragana using a piece of chalk.  
  
Landing by the pond, he fired a moko takibasha at a tree top. As the cherry tree smoldered, he turned to the police delegation. "Any questions?"  
  
Nodoka smiled at Ranma's performance. 'Truly manly to have so much energy after satisfying both Nabiki and Ukyo.'  
  
Nabiki and Ukyo looked on, glad that Ranma was on their side of the feud.  
  
"Just one, Ranma: when can you join the team?" Superintendent Yamamura asked for his slightly shell-shocked team.  
  
**********  
  
To be continued...  
  
It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about the lack of updates for this particular fic, but I am incredibly lazy and my computer died for three months and I did change jobs recently and had my appendix out at the beginning of December. And several other excuses that include writer's block and several other ideas - I'm sure that you've seen at least one of them.  
  
Thanks go out to my pre-reader, Chi Vayne.  
  
Laterer folks. 


End file.
